The Fighter
by xXLegendaryNothingXx
Summary: "How did you get here?" the blonde boy asked. I raised an eyebrow at his vague question. "Well, when a mommy and daddy love each other very much, the—" "That's not what I meant!" Rheikah is known to many people as a street rat and a thief. Both are true, at least until the place she's called home all her life is covered in twilight. Now, she's playing hero with a stranger. Fun!
1. 1) Twilight Takeover

The Fighter:

The sound of the early morning crowds bustling around Castletown woke me from my light sleep. I yawned, stretching a little which woke up my small friends. The cats one by one rose their heads and yawned just as I did. Yes, cats. Most nights I sleep here with the cats, just outside of Jovani's house and since he recently seems to have strangely disappeared, it became all the more convenient. That is, until it rained. Then I have to see if the bar is empty enough for me to get in to sleep or if I can break into the doctor's office for the night. Telma usually let's me stay in the bar when it rains, but when its crowded she can't let her customers see me.

The cats began meowing and purring as they rubbed against me. I pet their heads and smiled at them.

"Morning guys" I say and stand up, brushing the dirt off my back and legs. Time to start another day. I got my bag from its hiding spot under a vase and left the area, making my way to the small market a few streets away. Of course, as usual, there were guards on every corner to try to keep thieves and unwanted company away, but as usual, I always get in anyway.

Even though it was still kinda early, the street was already quite crowded which only made getting breakfast easier. I slipped on the black hood of my overcoat to hide my dark red hair then maneuvered my way past the guards and through the people, keeping my face hidden from view. I stopped by the produce and looked down the street. _No one watching this way._ I looked the other direction. _All clear this way._

I looked both ways again then grabbed an apple out of a barrel and started walking down the street to the South gate. Everything was going just as planned as I pulled off my hood and took a bite from the sweet fruit. The sweetest ones were always in the second barrel.

"Hey! Stop right there! Thief!" A guard yells down the corridor, alerting the other soldiers of my presence. I bolted from my spot and hung a left, down an alley to head towards the East gate. The heavy footsteps of the guards sounded behind me as I ran as fast as I could down and and around the star tent, coming out by the East gate.

The yells of the guards were still too close for comfort so I ran out the gate and across the bridge, into Hyrule field. They usually don't follow me out here because of the monsters that hang around sometimes. Mostly the monsters keep away from the castle but now they've been seen a little too close for comfort. At least for the others they are. It's not so bad when you know how to deal with them.

When I was sure I wasn't being followed, I started walking down to a small area with old stone steps, cracked from the years of weather. By the third step, under a cloth, is where I keep my bow. I retrieved it from under the thin fabric along with a quiver holding a few arrows.

My father gave me this bow. It was his a long time ago before I lost him and my mom. He didn't mean to give it to me, and I hardly remember that day, but this bow will always be special to me. It's helped me more in life than other people have.

I fastened the quiver onto my back then put on the bow over that. The tight feeling of the bow hugging my chest was comforting, as it reminded me that it was there. That it would protect me. Now, we walk.

The walk to Hyrule field would be a little longer today because I didn't think to take the south gate. I don't mind that much though, it just means that I get to go by Lake Floria. I walked in silence for a while, soon crossing the giant bridge over the lake. Not much longer after that, the small path came to an end that opened up into south Hyrule Field.

The scenery was something out of a story. The large open area of nothing but grassy field, a small body of water south of here, and plenty of room to do whatever you wish. That's been my dream since I was eleven and I realized that no one in Castletown was going to accept me. That I'd always be alone, kicked to the side by everyone. So I decided that one day, I'd live here on my own.

A long day was ahead of me. About every six days, I run out of food in my bag so I have to hunt in the fields to get more. Trust me, it's not as bad as it sounds. I made my way to an area by the center of the field and took off my bag, moving a rock over the strap to keep it in place in case something happens.

The bag was empty, as it had been since yesterday morning. Only a few rupees in the side pocket that I'd gotten from townspeople who had thrown it as charity (it was only about fifteen rupees in all) to me and the old man who stands out by the East Gate. I have more money though, for emergencies, but I need food. And hunting doesn't cost anything.

I left my bag where I could find it later, secured under the rock and started off to the higher region of the field where large birds fly. Some birds were like the bokoblins and turned to dust when slayed, but others were good to eat. Those are part of what have been keeping me alive all these years.

Pulling my bow over my head, I notched an arrow and readied my bow, coming around the curve of the wall. The birds saw my approach and many of them took flight. I aimed and shot at the birds once, twice, three times before they were all too far away to reach. Nothing. All of the targets were monstrous look alikes. I traveled further around the wall, going higher with every turn, repeating the process until I reached the top of the large hill.

At the top, on the ledge, a single bird sat unmarked by dark symbols. As quietly as I could, I notched another arrow and pulled back the draw string as far ad I could. I took a deep breath in then out, and aimed at the bird. Then I released the string.

The arrow flew from the bow at such a speed that it whistled in the air around it. It found its mark in the chest of the bird, causing it to squawk in pain and fall off the edge of the hill. I rushed to the edge and looked over at the falling bird as it hit the harsh ground.

The trip back down the large hill was a pleasant one as I went to retrieve my food for the next few days. This time I was lucky. Most days I end up having to look all over Hyrule field, even going as far as Faron Woods but never further. In all my life I've never been out of walking distance of Castletown. Even when I know that no one there cares if I come back, I always do.

At the bottom of the hill, the bird layed dead with my arrow sticking out of its left breast. I picked up the lifeless body and removed the arrow, carrying both back to where I left my bag. It was still under the same rock, just as it was left. I removed my bow and quiver, setting them gently down beside the bag. The hardest part of all this was having to pluck the bird's feathers, remove the intestines, then cook the meat. It was definitely the lengthiest part, because without a knife I have to use an arrow head.

I started cleaning the bird as I hummed an old song that came to mind. One my mother would song to me when I was little that was sang by the gods many years ago. The old song had no words as far as I knew, for they had been forgotten for a long time. By the end of my tune the bird was stripped of its feathers and had been emptied of its insides. I set it down on the stone ground by the small body of water and washed he blood off my hands. By the water, some sticks layed in a bundle from my previous visits. It didn't take much to set them up in a makeshift stick spit to cook the large bird on.

I gathered wood and leaves to build a fire place then used two rocks to ignite my flame, placing the cooker over the heat. By this time the sun was already halfway across the sky as the day was winding down into afternoon hours. I leaned back on the grass to watch the clouds and think of things they resembled, occasionally sitting up to turn my food.

That's another thing about Hyrule Field. Without many trees to corrupt the view, watching the clouds is easier than ever. It was more of a habit than a hobby, really. Whenever I get bored or feel alone in Castletown I just look up and my imagination does the rest, turning big white clouds into people, animals, and stories in themselves.

After however long I sat there watching the clouds go by, my bird was cooked. I picked off and ate what I wanted then broke the rest up in pieces, putting them in my food bag. When that was done, I put out the fire and set the sticks aside for later use. As the sun began to set beside me I made my way back towards Castletown to carry on another few days of being treated as a nuisance.

I looked up at the castle in the distance and sighed. So much for peace, equality, and safety for everyone. Just then I noticed something strange around the tower. A loud boom sounded through the air and a dark aura surrounded the castle, slowly making its way around Castletown and spreading to the area around it. _Run.._

Without thinking, my legs began to carry me in the opposite direction, towards Faron woods as the ominous glow of the twilight consumed the land behind me. I ran as fast as I could through the unknown terrain, dodging trees whenever necessary, quickly moving across an old bridge from the twilight nipping at my heels. I veered off the path to the left hoping to somehow get an advantage in the race against the darkness, desperately trying to get away.

 _Just a little—_ A rock slipped under my foot and I fell down a steep hill, hitting various rocks, stumps, and other things on the way down. My head slammed fiercely against a rock before I finally fell into a river. The frigid water licked at my skin bringing cool bumps to appear on my body. I let the cool water carry me downstream, my head throbbing with pain the whole time. As black spots clouded my vision, I watched the mysterious aura consume the air above me before everything faded away into darkness. _Goodbye life as I know it.._


	2. 2) Pregnant Ladies of Ordon!

I don't know how long I was out for, but when I woke up, my head was pounding in pain and my body was stiff from laying in an awkward position. Sharp pains would shoot throughout my body with every breath I took which very much encouraged me to just stop breathing. A cold gust of wind chilled my already freezing wet clothes. _But at least I'm alive._

I sat up from the riverbank in a different location from where I started and looked around. Trees, trees, and more trees as far as the eye could see. The faint trickling of the water beside eased my nerves a bit, but not enough. Sitting here wondering where I am isn't going to do much for my situation, so I might as well try to to figure it out on my own.

Early morning birds chirped around me as I tried to stand up, getting dizzy instantly afterwards. I stumbled over a small incline, following the stream down a path. Eventually the stream narrowed down and the path ended in what looked like a small village. The sun was still fighting it's way over the trees in the distance and the dim light made it hard to see.

The toll from the short walk here finally caught up to me and knocked me back down with pain. My head hurt tremendously and blood was still leaking out of the gash caused by the rock. I tried my best to stay awake as the dark spots clouded over my eyes and sent me into another period of darkness.

When I woke up again, I felt different. The various cuts and bruises that I'm sure covered my body after the fall didn't hurt me as much and my head felt better, especially on the spot that was hit on the rock. I opened my eyes and looked around, noticing I had once again moved to a new location. Instead of a river by me and houses scattered around, I was laying on a soft thing and it was actually warm. _Inside one of the houses._ I was still wearing my slightly damp clothes however and it took a good bit of the comfort out of the whole situation.

"Oh, good. You're awake. I must say, we were all quite worried if you ever would wake up. I'm Uli, and my husband Rusl is the one who found you" an extremely pregnant woman says, smiling at me. She looked as if at any given moment she would pop out a smaller version of herself on the floor. I shifted away from her just in case.

"How long have I been here?" I ask miss pregnant. I sat up slowly to prevent another episode of dizziness.

"Quite a while. You've been asleep for about two days now, ever since we found you out by the river." I nod. Two days plus however long I was out for the first time. Just thinking about it makes me wonder how I made it so long.

My stomach growled, reminding me I still needed to eat. Then I noticed how dry my mouth was. Uli left me to myself for a moment saying she would be right back and I took this opportunity to look around a bit. She lived in a nice little house with a pretty rug by the door, a warm fireplace behind me, and a table on the other side of the room.It didn't seem like her husband was here at the moment, which meant we were alone. I looked over and noticed my bag, bow, and arrows by the wall. Only about four of the twelve arrows remained and I'm sure my food is ruined and some rupees were lost as well.

Uli returned holding a tray of food and a cup and set it down in a chair by the sofa I was sitting on, doing a motion for me to take whatever I wanted from it. Almost immediately I grabbed the cup from the tray and drank its contents to soothe my dry throat. She smiled and retrieved a pitcher of water from the table and refilled the cup for me. I smiled back in thanks and took another long sip from the cup, this time making sure to slow down as to not drink it so quickly.

"So what's your name sweety? Where are you from?" she asks politely, setting me off a little. Politeness wasn't something I was used to, especially from the people in Castle Town. It was strange yet...pleasant. Honestly, if I didn't know I'd have to go back to how things used to be, I could get used to this whole being nice thing.

"My name is Rheikah and I'm from Castle Town." Her eyes widened at my words.

"But that's so far away! How did you end up here, in a river of all places?" she questions me. I was really hoping she wouldn't ask that. No one should have to worry about whatever the hell that stuff was.

"I was walking..through Faron woods and I um..I fell. I'm actually quite clumsy sometimes" I say. It wasn't a complete lie. I _was_ going through Faron woods and I _can_ be clumsy on occations, just not often are both happening at the same time. Uli nodded quietly, taking in the information.

I took a piece of bread from the tray of food and looked it over. If she was going to kill me, she would have done it sooner. That logic in mind, I bit into the warm fluffyness. It was nothing like bread in Castle Town, which was usually slightly overcooked and overpriced. This bread was soft and tasted absolutely amazing. I sighed in content, grinning peacefully.

Uli laughed, awkwardly lifting herself from the chair to take the tray into the kitchen.

"We sent a letter to Link this morning, telling him about your situation. He should be on his way here now to come see you for himself."

"What did the letter say?" I ask confused. If someone cared enough to come see me because of a letter, it must be one urgent letter.

"Just what we knew at the time: that a strange girl showed up in the river unconsious. It explained how we thought you might be waking up soon enough and if not, we would need him to take you to a doctor." she explains. I nod.

"So who is Link?" I ask just as some guy dressed in green clothes bursts through the door unannounced. He looks around the room until his eyes land on me and my delicious bread. Before he could take my bread away, I shoved another mouthful in my face so he definately knew it was mine. Or maybe I'm just hungry. Either way he's not getting the bread.

"Link, nice to see you again! This is our guest, Rheikah. Rheikah, this young man is Link." Uli says, smiling as usual. I looked 'Link' over from head to toe. He had dark blonde hair tucked away in a green hat, he wore a green tunic, brown pants and some brown boots. His eyes were something completely different from anything I've ever seen. They were blue, much unlike the people in Castle Town. They looked like sapphires shining in place of his eyes.

"Hello" I say, my red tinted brown eyes staring into his bright blue ones. He nods at me, mumbling out a brief 'hey'. I don't think his eyes have left me once since he first saw me, and even though I'm used to people staring at me, his gaze feels sort of intimidating. Like he's trying to figure out if I'm going to just jump up and murder Uli with my bread.

"Now, you two stay here and talk a bit while I go tell everyone Rheikah is awake. Link, you be nice to this one. _She's from Castle Town._ Maybe you could give her a ride home on Epona." Uli says and leaves her home, and me alone with Link. At first the silence was a bit awkward but Link eventually broke it.

"So you're from Castle Town?" he asks a bit formally. Like this was an interview and he was the one with something at stake. I nodded up to him, saying a quick 'yeah'. He didn't look much older than me, and if that was the case there's no reason for him to be so serious. He's still a kid, he should act like it.

"You've seen it, haven't you?" he asks suddenly. Scenes of the castle being consumed by the dark aura flashed through my mind. I nodded again.

"Yeah. It was everywhere...covering everything.." I say. Link looked at me with a face of confusion. Once again, too serious. Maybe he just needs to be knocked off his pedestal of urgency for a while..

"The twilight. It turns the people it touches into spirits." he says

"So..?"

"How did you get here?" I raised an eyebrow at the blonde boy's vague question.

"Well you see, when a mommy and daddy love each other very much the—"

"That's not what I meant!" he says, a small blush covering his cheeks. I chuckled at him.

"Sure it wasn't"


	3. 3) Why Kids Shouldn't Play In the Road

I sat with Link for a while, talking with him about the situation of Hyrule. Apparently, everything was covered in Twilight at the moment, including Castle Town. Meaning, I can't exactly go home yet, but I'll still go as far as I can. Uli came back and suggested that Link give me a ride home and, not wanting to upset the pregnant lady, he agreed.

"Do you kids need anything for the road? Something to eat or drink maybe? Oh, here. Just take this" Uli says and hands Link a bag containing two glass bottles of cold water and a bit of food. I grabbed my bag, bow, and arrows from the floor and slip them over my head and into place across my chest.

"Thanks for everything" I smile at the woman and she nods at us both. Link and I go outside where a tan horse with white hair is waiting. I've never really seen a horse this close before, much less rode one. The only other horses I've encountered previously were the ones that pull supply wagons to and from Castle Town.

Link approached the horse and grabbed the reins, walking it over to where I was standing. It spooked slightly when it saw me, but he patted the horse and it calmed down.

"Rheikah, this is Epona, my horse." He says. Her overall size in itself was intimidating enough to make me back away subconsciously. Not to mention the way she looked as if she had only just recently been tamed, unlike the horses in Castle Town that had a somewhat bored look in their eyes. Her eyes gleamed with power and passion. Link must have noticed my discomfort towards the horse cause he took a step closer with her.

"Don't be scared. Just... here." He took my hand in his and placed it on Epona's shoulder. She flinched away at first but then adjusted to my touch. Link kept his hand over mine, assisting my hand over the horse's body. He steps behind me to get a better angle, or just to keep me from leaving. Either way, his chest is on my back and I can feel his breathing by my ear.

"Don't be afraid of her. She's really gentle, I promise." he says. I continue to pet her on my own, smiling at how soft she was. This is so easy. What was I even scared of? Right then, Epona made a strange noise that sounded kind of like a sneeze and I flinched away from her, right into Link and he laughed. His chest vibrated against my back and I blushed at the strange feeling.

I whipped my head around to glare at him, my dark red hair slapping my face in the process.

"Shut up! Lets just go already!" I say. Link chuckles at me and climbs up on Epona's back. He helps me up to sit behind him and we set off in the direction of... wherever we're going. I didn't even ask. I just assume it's in the general direction of the Castle.

"Hey Link, where are we going?"

"Kakariko Village. It's not that far from here and as soon as I clear the Twilight from Castle Town you can go home." he says. Epona trots down the path ahead of us and over a bridge, eventually reaching Hyrule field. I didn't realize how much I already missed this place. It still looked the same despite the dark areas still looming over it in certain spots.

I looked up at the clouds floating in the bright blue skies and smiled as I watched them turn from big white puffs to different figures. A horse. A tree. A bunny with a bow an arrow. Epona carried us down a road a ways and over another bridge until Link sped up to a slightly faster pace.

"Rheikah, I need you to hold on to me for this, okay?" He says. I put my arms around him and held on, not entirely understanding why.

"Why? What's going on?" Link ignored the questions and sped Epona up to a gallop. I held on to him a little tighter as I looked ahead to see the problem —a big gate standing in the way of the path. Before I could catch my breath to protest, Epona lept over the gate without a problem.

I squealed slightly, hiding my face in Link's shoulder until we returned to the ground and stopped moving. When I looked up, we had entered another small village, this one with a hotter air around it. And a hell of a lot more dirt. Instead of the lavish forest like traits Ordon had, this one was more rustic. Kakariko, huh? There was a spring to our left and a row of houses and shops on either side of the road.

That's when we noticed them.

Two kids standing in the middle of the road. They seemed to be talking amongst themselves when a harsh pounding rumbled the ground. Three large boars mounted by bulbins came barreling down the road at the kids. One ran while the other stood there, staring in fear. The monsters were fastly approaching her with no concern of whether or not she moved. She would be trampled or taken hostage, neither any better than the other, but another kid ran to her and pushed her out the way, taking her place in the mayhem to come.

The monsters pulled the boars to a hault, the leader of the three holding the kid unconcious by his shirt. He pulled up his helmet to stare at a man standing by who pulled down his own in a pathetic attempt to hide.

"Hold on" Link says and quickly brings Epona to a gallop, turning the corner to expose our position to the monsters. The leader held up the blonde boy in a taunting manor then he and his group took off at the other end of the path with him, into Hyrule field. Link stopped Epona at the group of kids and the man standing with them.

"Stay here with them. I'll be back as soon as I can with Colin." he says. I'm guessing that's the kid's name, but there's no way I'm letting him do this alone.

"No. I'm helping you get him back" I say. He twisted his face in some strange mix of emotions.

"No you're not. You're staying here where it's safe."

"No, I'm going with you."

"Rheikah, you got scared of my horse. How are you supposed to fight a monster? Let alone three?"

"We're in this together now, until the end. I'm helping you through this, Link" He stared at me a second then sighed.

"Whatever. We don't have time to argue right now" He says and moves Epona to gallop out the way the monsters left. We found the leader towards the middle of the field with the kid—Colin— tied up on a long staff still out cold. The King Bulbin grabbed a horn from his belt and blew into it, summoning five more boars, each carrying two bulbins a piece.

The King took off, Link and I following quickly after him and the other bulbins after us, getting in between Link and saving Colin. He unsheathed a sword from his back and swung at the monsters whenever they were within reach.

"Duck!" Link shouts, just as a fiery arrow cuts through the air above our heads just half a second later. _Arrow..._ I took a closer look at the passengers of the boars and noticed they were archers, firing at us at will and keeping Link from getting close enough to hit the King Bulbin with his sword.

"How good are you at keeping Epona at a steady pace?" I ask. At first, I didn't think he heard me, but then he answered.

"Good enough. Why?" Without answering, I took off my overcoat and layed it over my lap, leaving me in just a hole filled pair of black pants and an old top I've had for years. There wasn't much to it; just a small piece of fabric covering my chest region being secured by a strap around my neck, but it worked just fine. I slipped my bow over my head and notched an arrow, aiming at one of the archers.

"'Cause I'm going to help you get that kid back." I say then release the arrow to fly into the bulbin's chest, killing him in a puff of smoke.


	4. 4) Caution: Watch For Falling Rocks

I notched another arrow and let it fly into an archer bulbin as it rode by, taking most of them out until I ran out of arrows.

"I'm out of arrows! Do you think you can get close enough now?" I ask and he yells back an "I'll try" before picking up the pace to get closer to the King Bulbin and hit him with his sword a few times. When the others saw their leader getting hurt they all swarmed us to block our path until he could get away.

Link managed to knock off pieces of his armor with every good swing and, after a while of chasing, hit off the last of it —his helmet. Upon impact, the King Bulbin was temporarily knocked out but quickly regained consciousness to ride over to a bridge outside of Castle Town, jumping over a barricade. Link and I followed him over on Epona, the wooden barricade being lit on fire right after by an archer bulbin with flaming arrows.

We stopped at that end of the bridge and watched the Bulbin face us at the other end. He stared grimly at Link and I could only guess what awful things were going through his mind about the green-clad blonde boy that was supposed to be helping me home.

"Get off." Link says, assisting me off of Epona's back, "Stand over there out of the way and don't come out until it's safe to." He pushes me towards the side of the bridge where I was supposed to stay until he got back.

"What's going on? What are you going to do?" I ask him, but he completely disregards my questions, unsheathes his sword, and takes one last glance at me before rushing towards the King Bulbin. At the other end of the bridge, the bulbin did the same, barreling down the path at Link.

Just as they were about to run into each other, Link dodged him to the side and slashed at the bulbin, injuring him further. The two of them continued forward until they reached the sides of the bridge opposite to the one they started on. When the King Bulbin got to my side he stared at me with empty eyes, clear of any human emotion other than hate. He turned back towards Link and they both took off at each other once again. Just like before, Link dodged his attack and sliced at him with his sword, knocking him off the boar and over the side of the bridge.

I rushed to the opposite side of the bridge and watched his fall to his inevitable death. When I looked back up at Link, he was looking down just as I was with Epona standing on her back legs, declaring her own victory. Seeing Link like that made him look...heroic. Like he could do anything, including saving Hyrule from the twilight. I decided I could trust him and that no matter what, I'd be there to help him on his quest. We were in this together now, until the end.

Link caught the boar and untied his young friend from it before taking us all back to the village where the other children and men from before were waiting. The boy woke up slowly, groaning a little.

"...Link...is everyone...okay?" Link nodded and he looked around at the crowd of people surrounding him to see for himself.

"...Good. Beth..I'm sorry. You know, for shoving you. Are you mad?" he asks. The girl he saved from his fate earlier —Beth— shook her head.

"I...I think I finally understand. I understand what my dad meant when he told me I needed to be stronger, like you, Link...He wasn't talking about strength like lifting stuff, he was talking about being brave." Colin lifted an arm into the air, clentched his fist then dropped it back to his side.

"Link, you saved me didn't you." He says, not as a question but as a statement. Link smiled slightly then looked up at me, Colin following his gaze.

"I may have had some help." He says. I smile back at him and wave to the small boy. "This is Rheikah. I'm helping her back home."

"You can do anything. You guys can do something to help the Gorons in the mine too, can't you?" Colin looks between the two of us waiting for an answer. Link simply nods at the boy and Colin looks back at me. I nodded at him and he smiles before passing out in Link's arms. The other children all jump into action, trying to make sure he's alright, one of them even trying to pick him up to carry him. The man from before with long brown hair came and picked up the boy, taking him away to rest, all the children following behind him. Once we were left with only each other for company, Link stood and looked up at the mountain the Gorons supposedly lived on.

I walked up behind him and placed a hand in his shoulder, causing him to tense up until he saw it was only me. I looked at the mountain and smiled.

"Death Mountain, huh? This, I've got to see." I say and begin walking towards the entry way. Link followed me, gradually making his way to walk by my side before leading the way once I realized I had no idea where I was going. He took us through a passage way, to an open area with a big drop off from the mountain. There was a broken ladder on the side, leaving the thick netting draped over the edge as the only way up.

Link started climbing up the net and I took it as my que to start climbing as well. It wasn't long before we reached the top and Link helped me over the edge. Ahead of us, a Goron waited as if he was expecting us to be here.

"Ho! You are back again human! And this time you brought a friend! You'll never pass! You cannot hope to match our brute force!" The Goron says then rolls up into a rock-like ball and rolls himself at us. I stepped away from him, towards the wall while Link just stayed put with his arms ready to grab the fast approaching Goron. I was about to yell at him to move out the way before he was hit, but before I could the Goron was right in front of him. Link grabbed the big hunk of rock and threw it behind himself.

I stared awestruck at the young hero as if he'd just done the impossible which, in a way, he just had. That's when I noticed his boots. The previously dark leather shoes were now covered in heavy metal, tripling his weight if not more.

"Nice shoes..." I say and Link looks down at them then back up at me. He twists a small clip on the side of his boot and the metal retracts.

"They were a gift" He says, then continues walking up the mountain path. "Come on, and stay behind me."

We traveled up the mountain that way, each time a Goron rolled by Link would stop it from hitting us, until we reached an opening. Gorons were everywhere, but that wasn't even the worse part. Out of seemingly nowhere, fiery rocks starting falling from the sky. Before I could even think to take cover, Link had grabbed me and pulled me under a shallow ledge, holding me close to his chest and covering our heads with his arms. I could feel his breath on my neck as rocks crashed down around us, eventually lightening up and stopping after a few minutes. His hold on me loosened up while he looked around to make sure it had stopped. A final, giant rock fell into the center of the area, noticeably raising the temperature of the area. Link stood up and helped me off the ground.

"Are you okay?" He asks, looking me over to be sure I wasn't hurt anywhere.

"Yeah. Are you?" I ask and he nods with a short 'yeah' in response.

"Come on. It won't be long before another one comes" He says and starts toward a Goron. It was strange how one minute, he's saving my life, then the next, he's back to the initial mission. I grab his sleeve to stop him and he looks back at me.

"Wait! Thanks for...that, I guess. It was really brave of you to protect me like that." I say, still not used to people being nice to me. Especially when they risk themselves to do it. He smiled at me, or really more at how confused I was that he helped me.

"No problem"


	5. 5) I See You've Met Midna

I looked over at the large rock standing just feet away from us, walking up to it slowly. Link followed behind me as I inspected it, careful not to get too close to the heat.

"What is it..?" I ask no one in particular. A quiet chime-like noise sounded from behind me and a voice I didn't recognise spoke.

"Woah, this looks dangerous!" the feminine voice says and I turn around quickly to inspect the sound. From literally thin air, a floating imp looking girl had appeared to comment on the situation. She was nearly see through and had an irritating highness to her voice.

"Is this the traditional Death Mountain welcome? Eee Hee!" She says then turns to look at me. "Hey! Girlie! What are you staring at? Never seen a chosen hero before?" She asks the rolls her eyes with a shrug before disappearing into Link's shadow.

"... Well I see you've met Midna..." Link says awkwardly. Only then did I break my gaze from his shadow, where the imp had disappeared into.

"We'll talk about this later." I say and walk away from the hot rock and the blonde hero. He muttered something in agreement and we continued up the mountain, using the backs of Gorons to get up tall ledges. Each time, we would both climb on top of one and Link would hold me close to him in the air until we landed again.

The process was lengthy, but we made it nonetheless to the entrance of Goron Mines. Inside, six other Gorons were standing around talking before they noticed us. They all rolled up into balls and began rolling right at us until a voice boomed over the noise saying 'ENOUGH!'

Directly ahead of us, in front of the mine entry where two Gorons were guarding the way, the owner of the voice stepped out from behind them.

"Are these two humans such imposing enemies that you all must gang up on them? I think not, little brothers." The older Goron says. Link and I approached him cautiously as began talking again.

"I am a Goron elder, little humans. I am called Gor Coron. Because of certian...circumstances, I must lead the Goron tribe in place of Darbus, our tribal patriarch. Tell me, little humans, do you come from the village below? You have both done well to get this far. You are strong... for humans. However, the mines beyond here are sacred to my tribe. Outsiders are not allowed... unless..." He looked at Link and smiled. He most likely wanted a match in the ring, as most to all Gorons loved a good sumo fight. After all, it proved how abundant their strength was, something they took great pride in.

"I could make an exception, but you would have to beat me in a contest of power. Are you willing to try that, little human?" He asks. Link and I look at each other and I nod once to him. He nods back then turns to Gor Coron.

"I accept" He says. A few minutes were given to prepare for the upcoming match. Link turned the thing on his boots and they were covered in heavy metal that allowed him to effectively fight the Goron elder. I placed a hand on his shoulder before he entered the circle and wished him good luck. He smiled as he usually did and stepped up to the ring.

Gor Coron lifted his leg into an almost vertical position, then dropped it back down, readying himself into a fighting stance. Link mimicked his action, getting into a stance of his own and I couldn't help but chuckle at the ridiculousness of it all. On a Goron's que, the two opponents began their match. They went back and forth, taking advantage of one another, almost getting the other out of the ring, then losing their advantage and nearly getting pushed out themselves.

It wasn't long before Link once again had the upper hand in the fight with Gor Coron by the outer edge of the ring. All it would take is one last push and we would be granted access to the sacred mines. Suddenly, the Goron elder gained control of the fight and pushed the blonde hero out of the ring. I didn't hear what he said next as I ran over to where Link landed.

"Are you okay?" I ask him and he groans out a reply.

"Yeah." Link sits up and sighs, "I should have known these boots would only help so much." Was he only realizing that now?

"Well of course they did. Look, you're facing a class A knight with a body built for force —"

"What?"

"—So there isn't much space for a fair fight when you're both lighter and less experienced in the arts —"

"Are you calling me weak?"

"—And...what? Link look." I motioned around us at the many tall, strong Gorons. Each one looked invincible with their rock-coated skin.

"Think of them as people. The average Goron would be six foot five and over two hundred pounds. You're the average Hylian size which, compared to them, is tiny. But lucky for you, where they have strength, they lack in other places..." I trailed off, hoping he understood my reference to the Castle Town soldiers. Most of them were pretty average with the exception of a few that would fall into a human-goron catagory. They are the ones that took me a while to understand. Usually if I was lucky, I could just trick the other guards into giving up on trying to chase me by pushing barrels in their way. The bigger guards weren't as easily put down. Eventually though, I figured it out.

Where they had strength, I had speed. I used my size to my advantage to not only outrun them, but get to places they were too big to reach. And I believe Link can do the same. Link smiled slightly, thinking over what I said. He stood up, making his way back to the ring.

"Eh? What is it? Do you want to try again, little human?" Gor Coron asks. Link nods and steps up onto the elevated circle.

"You think you are tough, do you? Lets find out" He says and the second match begins. This time, Link moved fast to dodge the elder's first attack then went straight to pushing him towards the outer ring. Every time the Goron tried to take back control, Link would strike first, pushing him further. It wasn't long before Gor Coron was out of the ring and Link was the victor.

"Young warrior... you have a strong will... and sharp eyes.." the elder says, standing up. "Fine traits. Want to see how well you can use them?" Link exited the ring, twisting the clip on his boots to retract the heavy metal, and made his way to stand beside me.

"You have seen it, I would bet... the mountain, erupting without pause. When the mountain began to rage, all four of us elders and Darbus, our patriarch, went inside to investigate its anger. We have a tressure that was entrusted to us by the spirits, and we must protect it. Do you understand?"

"But when Darbus reached out and touched the treasure, everything went wrong. He collapsed and before our very eyes transformed into an unspeakable monster! He began to rage through the mines, trailing ruin behind him. And the eruptions grew more frequent and more severe."

"We used all our strength to seal him inside the mountain. It... grieved us to do this to our patriarch, but we had no other course of action. I ask this favor of you young warrior, go to the aid of Darbus. Make no mistake, the spirits guided you here. I, Gor Coron, need your help. On behalf of my entire clan, I ask for your aid."

"... You two! Let this warrior pass!" He says and the two Gorons guarding the mine entrance moved to the side. I looked between Link and the elder, knowing what was coming.

"Unfortunately, I cannot allow the girl to pass through. To risk any unnecessary deaths for Darbus would be unacceptable!" Gor Coron says, looking between us sadly. Link furrowed his brows, ready to protest, but stopped when he realized that the elder was probably right.

"Go back to the village and find Renado. You can stay with him until I get back." Link says. I bite my lip to hold back my resentment for this plan and just nodded instead.

"Take a few of my brothers with you. They can keep you safe in your decent down the mountain. Are you ready to go, young warrior?"

Link nodded at the elder and put a hand on the small of my back before leaving into the mine to save the patriarch and stop the eruptions of Death Mountain. And leaving me on my own once again.


	6. 6) Family Memories

The trip down the mountain with the Gorons was a bit slower than I'd hoped. Because their usual method of travel was to simply roll down the mountain and I couldn't do that, we were all walking. At a fairly slow pace, might I add. It's not that I don't like walking, it's just that I'm worried about Link. The ever present thought of something happening to him was enough to make me want to run into the mines myself to find him. Eventually though, we did make it down to the village, and for a moment everything was alright.

The Gorons stood around the village doing...whatever the hell they were doing. I didn't care to find out. I looked around at the small house-like buildings, wondering which one housed this "Renado" character. I sighed in frustration. It's not like it matters anyway.

"Hey! Aren't you that girl that helped Link save Colin? Oh what was it...Rheikah?" a small girlish voice says from beside one of the huts. I believe she was called Beth, the girl that Colin was trying to save. I nodded at the girl.

"Yeah, That's me." I say. She looks around for Link until her eyes once again settle on me.

"Would you like to come inside and see him? Colin, I mean. Renado says he should be waking up soon enough." She asks with a smile. I smiled back. Again with everyone being so nice! Honestly, does no one else find it kind of weird?

"I would love to" I say. Beth leads me inside the hut and over to the sleeping blonde boy who was surrounded by those who care about him. The children and who I assume is Renado all look up at Beth and I.

"You all remember Rheikah, right? She's the girl that helped Link save Colin. Rheikah, this is Malo, his older brother Talo, and Mr. Renado. I, of course, am Beth!" The boys all waved to me as Beth pulled me to sit next to the sleeping blonde. A silence settled around us for a moment as I watched the steady rise and fall of Colin's chest that meant he was breathing. The quiet was quickly broken though by Talo asking me a question.

"So where is Link?" He asks and everyone's attention was once again on me.

"He's in the mines. The Goron elder thought it would be best if I stayed back so I wouldn't get hurt." as if that would happen. Just because I'm a girl and I don't exactly look tough, doesn't mean I'm not stronger than I put off.

"So are you like... Link's girlfriend?" Beth asks. I shook my head, chuckling a little at the impossibility of anyone—much less the supposed savior of Hyrule—caring about me. It was weird when people were being nice to me. Bokoblins would fly before anyone actually liked me.

From there, the kids asked me the basic new girl questions like, "Where are you from?", "How did you meet Link?", and "Why did you leave Castle Town?". They were all pretty easy to lie about, until Talo asked one I wasn't expecting.

"Do you think your family misses you? I mean, they know you're coming back, right?" I froze. My family... Short flashes of memories from that day played in my mind. The day I lost them. The day I got my dad's bow. The kids seemed to realize that Talo overstepped and immediately tried to make it better.

"Nice going, Talo!" Malo whisper shouted. His brother responded with a "sorry!" while Beth patted my arm.

"It's okay, Rheikah! Link's an orphan too! I guess that's just something you guys have in common!" She says, earning a crude stare from the younger boys.

"I didn't mean to upset you Miss Rheikah. Please don't cry!" Talo says. I looked at him confused for a moment. Cry...? My hand instinctively went up to my face and I felt the water on my face.

"It's fine." I say, wiping away the tears I didn't know had fallen. I excused myself from the group and went outside, tugging at the bow string secured around my torso. The string that was once comforting, now felt like a grief filled reminder. A feeling of anger coursed through me as I pulled the bow off over my head and threw it into the spring just ahead of me. I ran my fingers through my deep red hair and sat by the water side to clear all the negative thoughts from my head.

My family was good.

My parents were brave.

The villagers were wrong and simply paranoid.

We were fighters, and I wouldn't change that for the world.

I sat there for a while, repeating those words to myself. As long as I believed it, it doesn't matter if any one else does. I looked up from my lap to see the clear, glistening water of the spring. The calming waves licked up at the edge of my boots, wetting the material slightly. Then I saw it.

I crawled in the water after the bow, realizing it was still in the spring, not caring if my clothes got wet. I grabbed the red and black limb and pulled it out of the water. The wet feathers attached to the string groove spun in half circles as the excess water dripped off back into the spring around me. I carried the bow back to my spot by the spring and set it down next to me while both it and myself dried off.

I'm not sure how much time passed, but soon it was almost sunset. The kids had checked on me a few times but I sent them away each time, assuring them I was fine. Eventually, Beth came out and told me Colin was waking up and I went inside to see him for myself.

Sure enough, just as she said, Colin was awake and sitting up. The kids were all crowded around him, making sure he was okay despite Renado telling them to give the boy some space. Colin looked up at me as I came in, smiling at me. He got up and hugged my legs, surprising me with the sudden gesture enough to push me a bit. I only chuckled at his enthusiasm, catching a small glance of green from out the window. An odd feeling found its way into my chest. _Could it be Link?_

"How are you feeling?" I ask. Colin lets go of me and takes a step back, answering with a quick, "Better". He looked around a second.

"Where's Link?" He aks, a bit of worry in his expression. I glanced outside again, this time sure of what I saw.

"Actually, I think he's outside." I say, making my way back outside, followed by Renado and the kids. When Link heard us he turned around, looking us all over. My eyes found his and I took a moment to confirm it was him, and that he was okay. I didn't know I was walking toward him until there was only about two feet between us and Colin broke our eye contact by stumbling up beside me. Link gets down to his height and catches him before he falls too hard, helping him hold himself up. He was still very weak from his earlier encounter with the monsters.

"Ilia..." The small boy starts, on his hands and knees in front of Link. "You've got to save Ilia!" I scrunched up my face in confusion. Who the hell is Ilia?

"Those monsters left me with the other kids, but they must have taken her somewhere else! Whenever I thought I couldn't go on, I'd think of you and Ilia and hold on, Link..." Colin stood up and put on a reassuring smile.

"See? I... I'm fine now." Link stood also, a small smile gracing his features.

"Remember what I told you back in Ordon, Link? So you don't have to worry about me anymore! Go help Ilia!" Colin says. Whoever this Ilia person is, she must be loved very much by these people — Link included. I almost chuckled. Must be nice.

I didn't even notice Renado approaching us until he spoke, telling Link not to worry and that he'll watch over the kids. We all stood in front of Link —the kids and all —and Renado spoke once again.

"In Hyrule, countless tales are told of the ancient hero...and your deeds bring them all to mind. May the graces of the great goddesses who shaped Hyrule bear you on your way" Renado says and bows to Link, followed by the children. Now that I think about it, I guess Link does fit the description for the ancient hero.

My father used to tell me stories about a 'Hero of time' when I was little. The stories he told me though, weren't like the ones everyone else knew. His stories were more realistic. In my father's version, the hero was neither pure nor extraordinary and in the end, an important decision had to be made for the good of Hyrule. Because of his choice, the hero was destined to live again as the goddess's attempt to make him choose differently. My dad never told me what the choice was. Instead, every time I asked, he just smiled, winked, and said that one day I'd find out on my own.

Eventually I stopped asking.

Renado took the kids back inside, leaving Link and I alone. He looked at me expectingly, knowing I wasn't going to like his next words.

"I need you to stay h—"

"No"

"Rheikah, you can't com—"

"Yes, I can"

"You don't understand. You really can't—"

"I'm going with you. Just accept it." Link groaned, holding his head in his hands.

"I've already sat out of one thing. I'm not sitting out another. I can help you Link!" I say. He sighs, looking up at me.

"I'm supposed to be taking you home.." He mumbles then stands straight. "Castle town is still covered in Twilight. You would just be sitting outside the border waiting."

"Then that's what I'll do" I say, smiling. He puts his hands up in surrender, mumbling out an "alright" before grabbing Epona by the reins and climbing on her back. He helps me up to sit behind him and we set off to the North, towards the west gate of Castletown. The ride was mostly silent as far as talking went, but I didn't mind. It was pleasant.

"So... were the kids nice to you? They tend to be a bit mischievous at times." Link says in a horrible attempt at making small talk. I rolled my eyes and leaned into his back.

"Yeah, they were fine. Just asked a lot of questions." I say. Something hard poked my chest and I leaned back, looking for what it was. Across Link's back, secured by the tight string, was a brown bow. How had I not noticed that before?

"When did you get this?" I ask, running a hand along the smooth limb on his shoulder. It looked new, but there was no way it could have been made recently. No, it had been preserved for some time.

"Hm? Oh, I got it in the mines. Which reminds me, I brought you back some arrows as a thank you for helping me get Colin back." He says, and digs around in his bag for a moment before pulling out a bundle of arrows. I take them and put them in my quiver, finding a new peace in the small weight they provided.

"Thanks. That's really nice of you." I say and he says a short "you're welcome" but I ignored it almost completely. Instead, I hugged him from behind and placed a small kiss on the only part of his face I could reach from this angle— part of his ear, which turned red after.


	7. 7) Adventures in Twilight!

It didn't really occur to me that Link was in fact, a Hylian, until I remembered just how sensitive our ears are. More specifically, how bad I would have squirmed if someone were to do that to me— a Hylian. A part of me wanted to apologize, but another part just wanted to disappear into nothingness and forget it ever happened. The second part was winning this battle so far.

My embarrassment didn't last long though because after a few minutes, we were there. "There" being a dark area with a black wall of twilight standing between us and Castletown. Link hopped off Epona, helping me down right after. Epona didn't seem to like the twilight very much so Link tried soothing her.

In the meantime, I walked towards the black wall, finding it almost alluring in a way. As I got closer to it, I noticed a small whisper like noise coming from it. Once it was only a few feet in front of me, I stopped, staring into as if I'd somehow be able to see through into what used to be there. I lifted my hand and stretched out towards the blackness. _What happens if I touch it?_

"Rheikah! Get away from that!" Link yells and suddenly I feel myself being pulled away from the twilight and into Link's chest. He moved me away from the black wall and stood between me and it.

"You can't touch it. I'm not sure what might happen to you if you do, and I don't feel like finding out." He says and I recall something he said before about the twilight—that it turned those it touched into spirits. But if that's the case, how can he go through it to clear it out? We'll just have to test his theory later...

Link removed a familiar bag from his own and opened it up, taking out a jar of water given to us by Uli before we left Ordon. He handed it to me, pushing me along to sit by the cliff side a good ways away from the twilight. He sat down beside me and took out the other jar of water for himself, setting it down before taking out the bread and halfing it between us. Link handed me a half and I bit into it almost immediately, not realizing until now how hungry I had gotten over the course of a day.

"We'll camp here for tonight. I'll start on the twilight early tommorrow and hopefully have it all cleared out by the afternoon. Then you can go home and not have to worry about monsters or twilight ever again." Oh, if only he knew. I sighed loudly, getting frustrated with his insistence on doing everything himself. Honestly, was it that hard to see I could actually help him?

I'm starting to think that it would be best to just go the rest of the way myself, twilight or no twilight. At least then I could save myself the embarrassment of Link, the guy who's supposed to be saving Hyrule, finding out I'm a homeless orphan that gets kicked around like trash by a town that never wanted her. Really has a ring to it, right?

Didn't think so.

That night was the first I knowingly and intentionally spent away from the streets of Castletown in years. I hardly slept, as usual, but this time something was off about it. It wasn't out of fear of being caught and thrown out, but the absence of just that. It was a feeling that I'd almost forgotten until now—safety.

Link left early the next morning, just as he said and left me by the cliff side with Epona. Other than the fact my only company was a horse, it wasn't so bad for a while. Eventually though, I got bored and decided to entertain myself with a wall of twilight. Completely normal if you ask me.

I started with throwing things at it: twigs, pebbles, and the occational bug I could find. Then I tried holding things into it: holding a stick through it, an arrow, part of my shoe and on until that bored me as well.

Link said that anyone who touches it is turned into a spirit until the twilight is cleared, and that it shouldn't be touched...

But Link's not here.

That logic in mind, I stood in front of the black wall, staring into the inky reflection of the world that used to be there. I raised my hand to the twilight, inching forward to experience the unknown. Just as the tips of my fingers were about to pass into the twilight, I stopped to reconsider touching it. Link should be nearly done soon and will be heading back. If something happened and he came back early before finishing, what would he think if I wasn't here waiting on him? I sighed, letting my responsible side take the lead in this desicion.

Before I could even move my hand back to my side however, it was grabbed by a strange black hand from inside the twilight. I tried pulling away from it, but it just yanked me forcefully into the twilight. The next thing I know, I was on the ground on the other side of the black wall. All I felt next was pain, until I passed out there in the dirt.

When I woke up again, I was somewhere different. The line where twilight met the light was nowhere to be seen, but the land did look slightly familiar. I looked around to get some idea of where I was, quickly finding out I was still a bit dizzy from the earlier encounter. The thing that grabbed me was gone, thankfully, and I didn't plan on being here when it came back.

I sat up from my spot in the dirt and ended up looking down at myself. I wanted to scream, or wake up from this dream, or just close my eyes and open them up to find it was a hallucination, but I couldn't move. Where I used to have ragged clothes I now had velvet fur a few shades darker than my hair with white streaks in it. Instead of hands or feet, I had four paws and a bushy tail.

What does twilight do to orphans? Why, it turns them into overgrown dogs of course!

I could only wonder if the same happened to Link. It would explain why he's the only one who could save Hyrule, but why'd it happen to me? To avoid a complete mental breakdown from now having a tail, I got up and began walking towards Castletown. Maybe Link would be there to explain some things.

When I got to the bridge that crosses over Lake Hylia, I noticed a strange smell. Like oil of some sort had recently been burned. Most of what I could see on the bridge was all gone, including some boxes that were scorched in the process. Under the thick scent of burnt oil, there was another smell too. It was more of a rustic scent and smelled slightly woods-y. Like trees and leather.

Suddenly, an image flashed through my mind of a panic stricken Link who was surrounded by the fresh burning fire on both sides. My mind was racing, trying to figure out what exactly happened on this bridge. The only way Link would have survived that was if he— _splash._

I put my front paws onto the edge of the bridge and looked down, seeing a small black dot dodging a big...something in the water. Last I checked, Link is blonde, but something about that black dot is just so familiar. I think it may have looked up at me, but there was no way for me to tell from such a distance—even when I noticed how drastically the water level had risen.

I got down from the side of the bridge and went back across to the path that goes down to the lake. I didn't go this way very often before, except when the small springs throughout Hyrule field would dry up during hot summers and water was scarce. Sometimes I'd even come here to get a bath.

When I was finally down to the water, I looked back at the black figure. It was a wolf with white markings along its body that looked similar to mine. The Wolf was fighting something — it kind of resembled a giant bug honestly —and was biting at it repeatedly. The bug thing fell dead and burst into a glowing blue light that the wolf absorbed. The Wolf then swam across a small distance to the spirit spring that was here at the lake —I followed it in hope of it being friendly or better yet, Link.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 **Quick A/N: I don't get direct notifications from Fanfiction so I didn't know just how many people liked this story until I finally checked my email. Thank you all so much for supporting this story, it means a lot to me!**


	8. 8) Coming Home

I followed the wolf into the spirit spring opening, quietly keeping hidden behind him. A bright flash of light went through the room and out into the world behind us, and suddenly the wolf was no longer there. In its place stood Link, green tunic and all, who seemed to be having a conversation with the spirit Lanayru. Then the room got dark and something of a show started playing in my mind, narrated by the spirit. It was a story I recognized, but from where I couldn't remember.

"When all was chaos, the goddesses decended and brought order and life into the world. They granted power equally to all who dwelt in the light, and then returned to the heavens. The land where the goddesses landed came to be known as the Sacred Realm." Lanayru says, as a picture of the land was in my mind, molding with the things he said. Lights circled the plot of land until they collided, forming a triforce—something my dad told me about.

"For ages, the people lived at ease, content in mind and body... But soon, word of the Sacred Realms spread through Hyrule, and a great battle ensued." A girl with white eyes held a knife to Link, going on stabbing him, but soon dropped it when he killed her instead with his sword. He had white eyes of his own in place of the once shiny blue ones. Link dropped his sword and ran towards the addicting power of the triforce, only to then be stopped by three darker versions of himself with black tunics, white hair, and glowing red eyes.

"Among those living in the light, interlopers who excelled at magic appeared. Wielding powerful sorcery, they tried to establish dominian over the Sacred Realm." The three Links raised their arms to the light Link and turned him to dust, only to then have him join them in their dark power. Soon their eyes were set on me and a crooked smirk formed on all of their faces. Just when I was sure they would kill me too, Lanayru spoke again.

"It was then that the goddesses ordered us three light spirits to intervene. We sealed away the great magic those individuals had mastered. You know this magic, it is the dark power you seek...the fused shadow. Oh hero chosen by the goddesses, beware. Those who do not know the danger of wielding power will, before long, be ruled by it. Never forget that." Something happened to the white eyed Link and he screamed before the scene changed again to a lighter picture of just the girl from earlier floating around in the dark air before turning into multiple.

The little display finally ended and I could feel the mental drain from it. I had to lean against the wall to keep from falling over only to see Link—the real one this time—fall to his knees in front of the spirit. I couldn't help but feel that part of the story had been left out in the spirit's telling of it, but I shook it off as possibly part of a different story I was thinking of.

Lanayru said something else about going north from here and Link nodded, raising himself to his feet again.

"But first, before you go. Rheikah. You have been standing there long enough. Come out now" the spirit says, and I came out from my hiding spot, amazed he knew I was there. I noticed I was also human once again, but I was wearing a faded red tunic that resembled that of Link's in place of my old clothes along with black pants, black gloves, a red hat like Link's with black around the edges, and dark brown boots.

"You play a bigger role in this than you are given credit for, young one. But only time will tell exactly what that role is. Go now, with Link to save Hyrule and prove the fate of your ancestors inconstant." He says before dissappearing into the spring, once again leaving me alone with Link.

I couldn't look at him. Not yet at least. I completely went against what he said about staying away from the twilight, but in doing so, I found out something amazing. He has no real reason to force me behind him and thanks to Lanayru, it's going to be kind of impossible for him to do that now.

"Rheikah.." Link says, probably still a little unsure of what just happened. He didn't say anything else. No 'How did you get here' no 'I told you to stay' not even a 'Why did you come here?'. Just my name.

I turned away from the spirit spring and looked at the blonde boy clad in green. It was the first time I really took a moment to take in his features. Link had a muscular body that was actually quite rare from what I've seen in Castle Town and the other small villages he's taken me to. His muscles are subtle, yet still amazingly strong unlike the 'strong men of Castle Town' with disgustingly big muscles that still struggle to lift simple things. I could definately see why he could be the savior of Hyrule. Hylia, even his face looked strong. All with those unforgettable bright blue eyes, something else that was rare. I've only ever seen blue eyes in him, Agitha, and supposedly the princess had them too.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by the sound of footsteps and Link suddenly being right in front of me. He put his hand on my arm and stared into my eyes as if he was trying to catch a glimpse of my soul.

"Are you okay?" He asks and I nearly flinched at the words, but I nodded anyway.

"Yeah.. just uh.. if you stare at me like that for any longer you'll be able to see into my soul" I say and his gaze falters for a moment and he looks away, chuckling softly. I could have swore I saw a pink tint in his cheeks but I ignored it.

"Come on, lets finally get you back home. I've kind of been looking forward to meeting your family" he says and starts walking away from the spirit spring. I paused. Right. That. I almost forgot that's why we were traveling together. I'd already gotten so used to having Link around, I didn't even think about going home.

"Oh, right. Yeah, lets go." I say. Link and I exit the spirit spring and head back up to the bridge above us. When we got back up to the bridge, just a medium length walk from the castle, Link stopped at a patch of weeds.

He picked one of the horseshoe shaped weeds and blew into it, making a short, high pitched tune. I stared at him in silent wonder as to why he felt the sudden need to get musical. As if to answer my silent concerns, Link smiled and held a finger to the air, telling me to wait for it. For what exactly, I had no idea. Then I heard it — the sound of hooves beating against the ground in the distance and the familiar whinney of a horse. Not just any horse though. This was Epona.

She came barreling across the bridge, stopping beside us and breathing heavily from the run here. Link patted her side, rewarding her with an apple from his bag for her long travel to catch up with us.

"We'll go as far as we can tonight before it gets too dark, then go the rest of the way to Castle Town in the morning." Link says, allowing Epona a few more moments to catch her breath before climbing onto her back then pulling me up to sit behind him. We made our way down the path headed for the castle for a while, me watching the sunset in the distance in the meantime with my head resting against Link's back.

We fell into a comfortable silence with the only sound between us being the steady trot of Epona over the rocky ground.

"You know, my father used to tell me stories about the horses of Hyrule. He said that there used to be hundreds of them, running wild in all of Hyrule." I say, breaking the silence. Link hummed in response, his back vibrating against my head.

"What happened to them?" He asks. I shifted my position, resting my chin on his shoulder and keeping my arms wrapped tightly around his torso.

"Well, when all the people first moved into Hyrule, they pushed the horses away from where they lived and into the fields to make room for villages. Eventually, all the people coming onto the land made the horses leave to the surrounding areas. Only a few stayed behind." I say. I smiled at the memory of my father telling me the story, chuckling at the way he'd say it.

"He used to say that one day, when these times are over and the next era begins, and the people of Hyrule are no longer as plentiful, the horses would come back to this place they once called home. Of course that was a long time ago, and he used to say a lot of things that made much more sense than that." I sigh at the thought. Now he says nothing, and all I have are the memories. With or without him, his stories will always something I cherish.

"Used to?" Link asks, confused. Crap...

I repositioned myself again so that my head was once again resting against him, my ear pressed between his shoulder blades. I could hear his heartbeat surprisingly well through his thick green tunic, but maybe that was normal.

"My father died a long time ago. I don't want to talk about it." Link nodded respectfully and I settled with watching the last bit of the sun disappear behind the mountains. I sighed, deciding to just enjoy the rest of the short ride.

"We'll stop and camp here for tonight." Link says, stopping Epona and getting off, helping me off after. We built a small fire just as it got too dark to see and sat by it together. The sounds of the night filled the silence between us, until those sounds included the rustle of a bokoblin.

Both of us stood quickly to investigate the noise, Link grabbing the hilt of his sword and I grabbing my bow and notching an arrow. The noise carried on, getting louder as it got nearer, revealing the source to definately be a stray bokoblin. Link pulled his sword completely out of its sheath and took a few steps towards the sound. I followed behind him with an arrow ready to fly at any moment.

"Stay here, it's too dangerous in the dark. I'll be right back" Link says, holding a hand out and pushing my bow down. I loosened up the string and held the bow and arrow in one hand.

"Excuse me? If anything, I'm better off than you are! What are you planning to do? Blindly swing in the dark and hope you hit something?" I ask, placing my free hand on my hip. I've let him push me aside the whole way from Ordon to Castle Town, I think it's more than fair to be a little mad at him.

"No, I was planning to kill it so you wouldn't have to put yourself in danger." He says. I almost laughed.

"Yeah, because how could a _privileged_ girl from Castle Town that's _never_ had to deal with a monster before know _anything_ about how to defend herself, right?" I ask, rolling my eyes. Link puts his sword back in his sheath and holds up his hands in surrender.

"That's not what I meant. I just don't want to risk you getting hurt. It has nothing to do with you being from Castle Town or being a girl or anything like that. I just—"

"Just what? You just care that much? No one has ever cared about what happens to me, so I know that's not true. You just don't think I can do it, do you? I've been through things you could never imagine, so never try to tell me what I can and can't do!"

"Rheikah, I'm not, I promise. I just don't want to take the risk of something going wrong and you getting hurt!"

"Why?!" It didn't make any sense to me. Link was a complete stranger to me and supposedly the savior of Hyrule. Why would he care if I got hurt?

Link sighed, dropping his hands back to his sides and taking a step back towards me.

"Because from the second Uli and Rusl found you unconscious, washed up beside the river with blood everywhere, you became their primary concern. For all they knew, you could have been dying if not already dead. You didn't wake up for two whole days, Rheikah. They were starting to believe you weren't going to wake up, but then by some miracle from Hylia herself, you did." He says, stepping closer. I got quiet.

"I didn't get a chance to see you before Uli started helping you, but when I did I could still see what was left of the scratches from whatever happened to you. You still looked so fragile, so I swore that I would do what I could to make sure you weren't hurt again for as long as I could help it" Link took another step forward.

"Well I don't need you to do that anymore" I say, renotching my arrow and aiming it, then letting it fly towards the blonde boy in front of me. It just narrowly missed his face and I grabbed my arrows from the ground where I was sitting previously. Link blinked, looking himself over before looking back up at me.

"You missed" He says. I smirk, pulling my bow over my head and securing it around my torso.

"I wasn't aiming for you." I say, pointing behind him. Link turns, watching the bokoblin with his club still raised fall backwards with my arrow lodged in its eye, before disappearing in a black puff of smoke. By the time he turned back around, I was already walking.

"Wait! Where are you going?" He asks, jogging after me. Link grabbed my shoulder and stopped me, then stood in front of me to block my path.

"Castle Town." I say, removing his hand from my shoulder and walking around him.

"But it's still dark out, you should at least wait until morning" Link tried to stop me again, but I grabbed his wrist before he could.

"It's not your job to worry about my safety anymore. You've done your job. I'm going the rest of the way myself and, if you survive the night, I might see you in town tomorrow. But for now, goodbye Link." I say and begin the short remainder of the walk to Castle Town.

The guards were definately not going to enjoy me being back in town, so it's probably best if I sneak in tonight while they're all tired, before the new shift comes in the morning. I guess I can go to Telma's bar from there. Who knows? She might have actually noticed I was gone.

Maybe.

 **A/N: I'm not dead! I just got a bit busy handling some Writer's block, but I'm good now. Love ya! See ya next update!**


	9. 9) Hero's Guide To Escorting The Ladies

I snuck in the west gate and hung an immediate right as to avoid going through the center of town. It might be late, but both guards and the occasional stray townsperson can be found bustling through the area no matter how late it gets. And found is something I didn't want to be. Not yet at least.

From there, I kept to the shadows until I reached Telma's bar. I peeked in the doorway to find it empty of patrons. The only one's there were Telma, some girl, and an unconscious Zora boy. I determined it was safe to go in and did just that, gaining the attention of the girl who was sitting by the Zora boy.

"For the last time, I said we're clos—" Telma says, cutting herself off when she saw it was only me. She stopped and smiled, crossing her arms across her chest and tilting her head to the side. Telma was the only other person in Castle Town that had red hair. I've always guessed that that's the reason she's always been so tolerant of me. Maybe the townspeople were weary of her odd hair color too.

"Well isn't this a pleasant surprise. For a while I thought those guards had finally chased you off for good — especially when it started raining, a few days ago and you didn't show up. Where have you been, honey?" Telma asks, going over to the bar and pouring me a drink of water.

For the next few hours, I told Telma and the strange girl everything I could remember from the second I left, excluding the parts where I was a wolf, Link being the chosen hero, and the thing that happened at the spirit spring, of course. I even told them about my arguement with Link earlier tonight. They listened to every word, along with the occasional comment from Telma.

When I was done telling them my story, Telma just sighed, mumbling to herself something along the lines of "quite the boy, I'm guessing.." along with a shake of her head.

She then filled me in on the girl who was apparently suffering a bit of amnesia and couldn't even remember her own name and the Zora boy who collapsed in the road just earlier. They planned to have the doctor over first thing in the morning to check him out. The girl had yet to leave his side.

"Well, it's getting to be late. Little miss, you can sleep in my back room with me tonight if you'd like. Rheikah, the same offer as every time you come to my bar still stands." Telma says, offering the door to the back room for anyone who wanted to use it.

"No thanks, I'd like to stay with him tonight, in case he wakes up. Thank you though." The girls says. She then turns back to the boy and props her head up on her fist to watch him some more.

"Alright. Rheikah?" Telma asks. Every time I come to her bar, she offers to let me stay in her back room, but every time I settle with sleeping on the small ledge above the bar. Why? Because it offers an easier escape if I sleep in too late. Over the years, I've tied rope between the ledges and mastered walking across them. I also don't want to take Telma's offer because I'm scared it would lead to me growing attatched to the woman, and so far in my life, I haven't had much luck with people I've grown attatched too.

"I'm good with my usual spot. Thanks for all the help, Telma." I say, climbing up on the counter. The woman rolls her eyes and mumbles another comment under breath before bidding us goodnight and going into the back room. I jump up from the counter, grabbing onto the rope connecting this ledge to the one over the door. From there, I pulled myself up and onto the rope before walking across to the ledge above the bar.

There, I opened a crate to retrieve a blanket and sat against the wall, thinking to myself before I fell asleep. Unfortunately, my sleep didn't last very long. It wasn't often I found myself unable to sleep, but when it happened, it usually meant something was bothering me—even if I didn't know what it was.

My last conversation with Link played through my head, and I actually started to regret leaving him. He was only trying to help. Then I had another concerning thought. What if that was the last time I saw him? I shook off the idea. Of course I'd see him again, even if I had to track him down myself, I would see Link again. After all, I had said we were in this together now.

With that thought, I finally fell asleep.

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of someone coming into the bar. I quietly yawned and put my blanket back in the crate. I looked down over the ledge to see that the bar was still quite empty. The only occupants were a group of Castle Town knights and the doctor that had promised to come look at the Zora boy. Judging by the limited bit of light coming into the bar through the windows, I'd say it was still early morning. Very early.

I sat quietly on my ledge while the doctor checked out the Zora child, though, it seemed as if he had no idea what he was doing or supposed to be doing. The doctor began to get frustrated.

"So can you help him?" the girl asks and the doctor grabs his stuff in an angry huff.

"Of course not!" He says, just as the door opens once again to let in another patron. "This is a Zora child! This is beyond my expertise! Hmmmph!" the doctor then turns and stomps towards the door, running into the person that had just walked in on his way out. A person I then recognized to be Link. I nearly gasped at the sight of him.

The doctor looked Link over as if he were a mere peasant and continued on out of the bar. The girl, who I'm getting a bit tired of calling 'the girl', ran from her place beside the Zora boy after the doctor to try to stop him.

"Doctor, wait! If something isn't done, this child will..." She trailed off, knowing he was gone and not coming back. I frowned at her depleted form, not missing the way Link stared at her. She looked up at him for a moment before turning and walking back to the Zora boy. Link looked like he was about to say something, but then stopped, confused as to why the girl practically ignored him.

She slumped down on the stool next to Telma, now more worried than ever about the wellbeing of the child.

"Well this isn't good. A human doctor won't do, huh." Telma stood with her arms crossed as she thought to herself. Then she perked up with a sudden idea.

"That old coot reminded me, though... I've heard of a shamen in Kakariko Village, in the Eldin lands, who's tended to Gorons and Zoras." She says and the nameless girl immediately perks up. From what I remember of Kakariko Village, I assume she means Renado.

"Is that true? Perhaps if we take him there..." The girl says, and Telma simply smiles at the happy look on her face. Across the room, one of the knights from before clears their throat.

"Inadvisable! Too dangerous! But we can't turn a blind eye to a pretty girl in need, either. Yes, we'd better escort you! Am I right, boys?!" The lead knight asks and all the knights raise their spears, shaking them and yelling in agreeance. Telma smiles.

"Well isn't that nice. To reach Kakariko, we've got to cross two plains that are each infested with dangerous beasts." She says, the noise from the knights dying down as she says this. She turns away from the crowd of men to reassure the girl.

"We'll be safe now." Just as she turns back to the crowd, only one knight remained, standing scared of whatever beasts Telma was referring to. When he saw that all of his friends had left, he too tip-toed out of the bar as to not have to escort anyone through any beasts. Telma was beyond angry at this.

"Cowards! Don't EVER show your faces here again!" She yells after them before her eyes landed on Link.

"Oh my. Looks like we've got one young swordsman left." She says smiling at Link whose eyes as far as I know have yet to leave the blonde girl with amnesia. Link forced himself to look at Telma.

"I'll gladly take you to Kakariko if you'd like.." Link says and Telma smiles.

"And not only that, but it looks this brave young man will escort us, so get ready to go honey. Pronto!" She says and the girl smiles, running to go get what she needed to leave. Link watched her go and, I hate to say it, but I didn't like the way he kept staring at her. She was only human and nothing special as far as I knew. So why couldn't he keep those stupid blue eyes of his off of her? Telma stepped closer to Link.

"You know that girl, don't you?" Telma asks and Link nods. _He knows her..._

"It's a real shame... She can't even remember her own name right now. Bless her heart. She found this poor boy collapsed in the road, so she did all she could to save him. More courage in that girl than in all the soldiers of Hyrule, for sure!" Telma says and Link nearly chuckles nodding in agreeance.

"You lend your strength to her, you hear me?" She asks and Link nods again.

"Of course" Telma then crosses her arms again with a smirk, gazing down at Link with a different look.

"Now," She says, "tell me about your little trip you took with Rheikah.."

Link was taken aback by the sudden statement and a bright blush covered his cheeks. It was funny to watch, and I knew Telma knew I was awake and watching. That's something I'll always appreciate about her— she knows how to pick out information she needs and use it to her advantage, whether it be to make you feel better or do something for her.

"I-I I don't — I mean I didn't know you knew her a-and whatever she told you... Have you seen her since last night? I wanted to find her before I left town so I could apologize." Link says, looking down at the floor. Telma uncrossed her arms and put a hand on her hip.

"Not since last night, no. Sorry, honey" She says and Link sighs.

"Is there someone I can leave a message with? A family member or something?" he asks. Telma shakes her head.

"Oh, honey, I'm the closest thing Rheikah has to family. And if you want to apologize, why not just tell her yourself?" She asks and Link looks up at her, confused. She sighs.

"Rhei, do you mind coming down for a bit? A nice boy is here for you." She says loud enough for me to hear it clearly and Link to get more confused. On that note, I jumped from my spot above the bar, landing on the ground a small distance away from Telma and Link.

"I'll leave you both to it. You can meet us outside when you're ready to go" She says and leaves us. As soon as the door closed behind her, things got a bit awkward. At least, it was for me anyway.

I could feel Link's gaze on me but I refused to look up at him yet. He cleared his throat and I looked up, finding his blue eyes almost instantly.

"Look, Rheikah, I'm sorry about what I did. I shouldn't have restrained you so much, I just didn't want anything to happen to you." Link says. I gave him a light smile.

"Don't be. I may have overreacted a bit and, if I'm being honest, I probably needed your restraints. I have a habit of acting like things aren't as bad as they really are. So...truce?" I ask, holding out a hand for him to shake. Link smiles, taking my hand and shaking it.

"Truce." He says. We both stood there, smiling at each other, both of our hands still holding onto the other. I cleared my throat and gently pulled my hand away from his.

"Alright then. Now, what do you say we get that Zora boy to a doctor?" I ask before walking out of the bar and towards the gate, not waiting for his answer.

Telma and the blonde girl were waiting for us outside, at the bottom of the steps I usually hid my bow and arrows at. They were looking out at the bridge in the distance, and I noticed something that looked small from a distance patrolling the bridge, riding up and down the area. I heard Link come up behind me and we walked down the stone steps together, him somehow getting a few steps in front of me.

I sat on the bottom step while they discussed which way we'd have to go due to bridges being out. To make things worse, the way we have to go is the bridge being guarded by a giant bulbin. Despite the obvious obstacles, we loaded the Zora boy onto a wagon anyway. The girl decided to ride in the back with him while Telma steered. I rode the wagon, up front with Telma so that I had a clear shot with my bow if needed and Link rode Epona.

Before we left for Kakariko, nameless looked out the wagon window at Link and almost nervously thanked him for his help and asked for his name.

"It's Link..." He says and she stares at him for a moment, almost as if the name struck a cord with her.

"...Link?! I will never in all my life forget your kindness, Link." She says and he looked somewhat disappointed. I looked him over, raising an eyebrow at his behavior. I know he knows her, but what exactly is she to him?

Link must have noticed the look I gave him because he mouthed "later" to me before shifting his gaze down, then back to nameless.

"Little lady, I think you best save your thanks until we're safe in Kakariko." Telma says, "This swordsman of ours has great eyes, honey. They're proud and wild like a feral beast. We need a beast right now, to keep the true ones at bay. If we make it to Kakariko safely, we'll just thank him then, OK?" Link looked at Telma as she said this, smiling when she sent a kiss and a wink his way. From beside her, I smiled also at how he reacted to her flirtatious manner—something I'd gotten used to over the years.

He looked at me almost expectingly so I rolled my eyes, blowing him a small kiss of my own. Before I could watch his response to my unusual display, Telma had already cracked the reins over the horse, moving the wagon ahead.

When we got to the bridge, Telma stopped the wagon for Link to go ahead of us and take care of the Bulbin that was guarding it. I knew he could do it, just as he had before when we were saving Colin. The only difference between now and then is the increased amount of protection on the Bulbin. It now had two large shields—one on each arm to protect its sides.

After two missed attempts at trying to hit its sides to no avail, it became clear a frontal approach was necessary to bring him down. I hopped off the wagon, earning some advisory words from Telma in the process and stood at the end of the bridge as Link and the Bulbin raced at each other once again. I readied my bow and notched an arrow, aiming carefully as to not hurt Link.

I released the string and let the arrow go whistling through the air and narrowly missing Link, traveling straight into the Bulbin's chest. It didn't do much, but it knocked him enough to cause him to lose control of his boar for a few moments. Just before he hit the side of the bridge, the bulbin caught ahold of his reins and steered away, pulling my arrow out his chest and throwing it aside.

Link must have seen his response too because seconds later he was riding Epona down the bridge with an arrow notched onto the bow he recieved from the Goron mines. His first one missed the Bulbin my just a few inches—and my head by nearly half that—but his second attempt hit perfectly and the Bulbin lost control again.

This time, its boar ran a little too close to the side of the bridge before he could gain control again and it stopped suddenly causing the Bulbin to go flying over the edge, dropping its gate keys behind him as he did. Link got the keys and I got back on the wagon and our journey continued.

In the first part we had to travel through, we were being shot at by archer bulbins with flaming arrows. The first few, we avoided quite well with both me and Link taking a couple out with arrows. Then, one hit us. The fire from the arrow caught on the wagon top and began to spread. We had no water to put it out and if it got too hot, the girl and the Zora boy would die.

I climbed into the back with them and tried to find something to pat out the flames with, finding nothing. Telma was still racing down the road at an accelerated speed and I couldn't see Link anywhere. The fire got bigger and smoke began to fill the back area. Nameless screamed despite me trying to calm her down.

Suddenly, a series of gusts enveloped the wagon and the fire was out, smoke and all. When I looked out to see the source of the wind, I found Link.

"Are you okay?" He asks and I nod once before climbing back up front with Telma, Link following around the wagon on Epona. We had made it to the gate.

Link jumped off Epona and unlocked the gate, pushing it open for us then following us out.

In the next part, we had bulbins riding on boars chasing after us with archers riding on the back and a bird. The bird just seemed like a nuisance at first but just as we were about to reach the final stretch to Kakariko, it dropped a bomb, startling the horse pulling the wagon. Telma pulled the horse back around only for the same thing to happen again.

When she pulled around again, I stood on the wagon seat and aimed at the bird, shooting it just before it could drop another bomb. As if the bomb wasn't bad enough, a boar somehow got around Link and knocked the wagon, pushing me off balance. Before I could fall, Telma grabbed the end of my tunic, her hold being the only thing keeping me from falling. She looked over a few times before winking at me and pushing me off the side of the wagon.

I fell from the wagon, expecting to hit the ground hard and be trampled by boars, but instead I hit something else. I closed my eyes tightly and hoped for the best before finally hitting something — Link. Link caught me in his lap and held me close to him while he slowed Epona to a light gallop for the rest of the short distance into Kakariko.

When we finally got into the small village, Telma and Nameless took the Zora boy to Renado —who had him moved to a building in town — while Link helped me out of his lap and safely onto firm ground. He got off Epona right after and immediately started checking to make sure I was okay.

"Link! I'm fine!" I say, pushing his hands away from me and holding them by his sides.

"You saved me." I smile. He smiled back the way he usually did and I couldn't help but notice the way his blonde hair shined in the early morning light, as the sun finally began to show itself over the trees. His bright blue eyes were...well, stunning and it was really hard not to stare.

"Of course I saved you. We're in this together" He says. It didn't take long for me to realize that I was still holding Link's hands and drop them, awkwardly clearing my throat afterwards.

"Come on. We should go check on the Zora boy. And I'm sure Colin would love to see you again..." I say, heading towards the building they took the boy to. A few seconds passed before I heard him follow me before coming up to walk beside me into the building.


	10. 10) Fish are Friends

Link and I stood on the first floor of the building the Zora boy had been moved to, waiting patiently while Renado looked after him. Renado had asked for space except from Nameless and Telma who were giving him information about how they found the boy. Meanwhile, I thanked Link once again for saving me. Silence settled around us and I found myself thinking of something.

"Hey Link...who is that girl upstairs? You said you knew her, right?" I ask and he awkwardly stares at the floor. I couldn't tell if he was embarrassed of the answer or if he just didn't want to talk about it. Either way, he barely stuttered out an answer.

"I know her...she uh..um..she's from Ordon." I scrunched up my face in thought. Why is he acting like that?

"Is she your girlfriend?" I ask. Link's face turned several different shades of red and pink after that. He immediately began shaking his head, holding his hands up in a surrender-like position.

"No no no no. No. She's not my girlfriend! N-not that there's anything wrong with her, she's just...not" He says and I can't help but smile a little. Now it was Link's turn to look at me confused.

"Why are you smiling?" he asks, dropping his hands back down to his sides and returning a ghost of a smile as he looked at me. I shrugged, smiling some more.

"I don't know. Your reaction to my question was just kind of...cute, I guess." I say, purposely ignoring the way he smiled at me afterwards.

"So your not-girlfriend. Does she have a name? Hobbies? Giant pet goat?" I ask, taking a seat on a nearby table. Link sat in one of the chairs around the table I was sitting on and sighed.

"Her name is Ilia. She was a good friend of mine back in Ordon and...no. No giant pet goat." He says, letting a small smile slip at the last part. I jokingly gasped, placing a hand over my chest. Link raised an eyebrow at the sudden gesture.

"How dare you smile about such a topic as a giant pet goat? That is a serious matter!" I say sarcastically, trying not to laugh as Link did only to fail immediately. Just then, a small familiar face walked into the building, interrupting our laughter.

Colin came in and found a place standing in front of Link and I. He seemed a bit reluctant to interrupt our conversation, but at the same time, eager to see what was going on in here. Link smiled at the younger boy, politely saying hello. Colin waved in response.

"So, how are they?" The young blonde asks. I glance up the stairs to the doorway of the room the Zora boy and Ilia were being kept in.

"We don't know yet." Link replies to his question. Colin moves his gaze to the floor and I stand from my seat on the table to stand beside him.

"Why don't we all go check on them, hm? I think Renado should be about done by now." I say and Colin immediately perks up at my proposal. He nods enthusiastically, letting out a 'yeah' and I look at Link. Link stands from his chair and shrugs.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt" He says and the three of us head up the stairs, Colin taking the lead while Link stayed back to walk beside me. When we got to the top, we stood patiently waiting for Renado to come fill us in as soon as he finished talking with Telma. Their conversation promptly ended and Renado approached our little group of three.

"... He has passed through the worst of it. As long as he rests, he should recover in due time. Do you know the fate of his mother? Her wellbeing consumes him. He has been mumbling deliriously about her almost constantly.." Renado asks. I look at Link and find him with a somber expression, no doubt revealing that whatever had happened to the boy's mother, it wasn't good. He muttered out a brief "She's gone." Renado continued.

"...I can see the knowledge grieves you. It must be an awful memory." Colin smiled despite the grave news, putting on a face of determination.

"I'll stay with him until he gets better. No matter how long it takes." He says, earning a smile from all of us. Renado crouched down to his height and placed a hand on the young blonde's shoulder.

"Is that so? Thank you, Colin." Renado says. I looked up from the two and into the room that the Zora boy was in to see Ilia sitting next to him, just as she did in Telma's bar. I don't understand how a girl who can't even remember her own name can feel so concerned for a total stranger. Then again, I guess that's the same logic that persuaded Uli and Rusl to help me when they found me by that river. It's the same logic that made Link feel the need to keep me safe on our journey.

I guess that's just something I never learned in Castle Town. Caring.

We all headed back down the stairs, Link and I heading outside, followed by Colin.

"Hey...Link. About Ilia. Is it true what they said about her?" Colin asks. Link hesitated to respond, only for Renado, who had come out after Colin, to answer for him.

"Yes, she has lost her memory, Colin, and regaining it will be no simple task. But it will be alright, child. If we just give her some time, I am certain that Ilia will find her heart again. So, Colin, I'd like to ask you to stay in the village until then. It is our turn to show the courage you have already displayed." Renado tells the young boy, earning a bright smile in response. Colin quickly ran back into the building, most likely going to help out with Ilia and the Zora boy.

Renado bowed briefly to Link and I before leaving us to stand with Telma, who had been standing by the entire time. She hummed lowly to gain our attention before speaking.

"Nice to see there's still hope here. And it's always good to see happy results repay your efforts. Those skills of yours...any chance you're of the mind to put them to use of Hyrule?" Telma asks, directing her question more towards Link. She told Link that what little hope left in our kingdom was dying and about the group she was in that was trying to save it.

Telma has told me about them before -- her group that is -- and I've even intruded on one or two of their meetings in her bar. After all, I did sleep there often enough to know. She told me once that if not for so many people in Town suspecting me of being of evil descent, I might have been able to join. Not that I cared. No one in that town except for Telma ever did anything for me, so why should I try to help them?

Now though, it's different. I'm helping Link because it's not just the people whose lives are at stake -- it's my home.

"I may just stay here a bit longer. I'm still worried about Ilia and...Well, never mind about the rest." Telma says, glancing over to where Renado was walking. Link and I both looked that way and found her gazing resting on the man's retreating form.

When I looked back at Telma, I found her leaning close into Link's face, making him stare back at her, a surprised expression on his face with his mouth gaping slightly. He still wasn't used to Telma's up-close nature.

"Link, I want to see you again at my bar, you hear me?" She states, giving a side glance my way to make sure I was listening too. Telma stood up straight, out of Link's personal space to continue.

"The bar is actually a kind of safe house for my friends. There's a passageway that leads to the castle from in there, as well." Telma did a small run towards Renado, but stopped and turned back to say one last thing before she left us.

"If you ever need anything, stop by. I'll be waiting for you, honey! And do me a favor on your journey, will you? Keep that one on the right path and out of trouble!" And with that, she left, catching up with Renado and starting a conversation with him.

I heard Link let out a small chuckle beside me, and I raised an eyebrow expectingly. He caught my gaze almost immediately and grinned slightly.

"As if you would actually listen to me.." He says, making me smile.

"I don't know..." I trailed off, stepping closer to the green clad hero, "I do like you more than most people.."

Link turned away from me and stepped towards the door to the building, all the while attempting to hide what looked like a deep red blush that spread through his cheeks and the tips of his ears. I was going to follow him, when I heard something behind me.

I turned around and looked up slightly to see a translucent figure of a Zora woman floating elegantly above the ground. Link must have heard her too because suddenly he was standing beside me again as we both gazed at the glowing woman. She moved to the side, away from us, but didn't go too far.

"This way.." She says and we begin a short chase after her through town and into the graveyard. She lead us to the very back of the graveyard, to a stone that then disappeared as she did. Behind the stone was a small crawl space that Link and I both went through, one at a time of course, to the other end of the short tunnel.

On the other side was a beautiful spring with green grass on the small bit of land we were standing on, surrounded by warm, clear water that flowed into the spring through two waterfalls. Directly in front of us, across the pool of clear water and hovering above another section of land was the Zora woman. Her faint glow was complimented by the reflection from the water all around us.

I took off my bow and loose quiver of arrows and set them down on the ground where we stood. Everything else would be fine. Link simply tightened down his things before we both jumped into the water and swam across to the Zora woman. We climbed onto the small section of land and looked up to the floating Zora. She was beside a grave, the headstone being decorated with patterns unique to the Zora people.

"I am deeply grateful to the both of you for aiding my son in his time of need. You were right to bring him here. Kakariko village is a sacred place for the Zora people. It is where we take our eternal rest. My husband in life, King Zora, also rests his spirit here. It is no coincidence my son found his salvation in this place." She says. So the Zora boy was her son? And she was the queen? Which meant...I just helped save the prince?

Weird.

"That which I have promised you, boy, is within this grave. As well as something for you, girl. During his lifetime, my husband created garments, specifically for the chosen hero and his companion, garments that house the abilities of the Zora." The spirit queen stated, the headstone of the grave sliding out of the way to reveal a hidden place underneath.

In the small hole under the gravestone, two sets of zora armor were hidden away neatly. One was a dark blue and obviously meant for Link while the other was a deep purple shade and decorated lightly with traditional Zora ornaments.

Link lifted both sets of armor out of the hole and handed me the purple set. The fabric was different from what I was used to. Unlike the scratchy material I wore daily in Castle Town, this was smooth and well insulated to maintain body heat in deep water. That and it was actually decent clothing (Thank the spirits for my new clothes).

"Now, at last, I can join the king in his slumber. And yet...my son...He still knows nothing of my death. If you see him again, please pass on this message...Tell him he must not grieve his mother's passing. Tell him she wanted him to be brave and live on as the King of our people. And...tell him his mother loves him without end. Tell him.." And with that, the late Zora queen faded away. I looked over the Zora armor in my hands one last time before putting it away in Link's bag with his own.

A small chime came from seemingly nowhere and I turned to see the shadowed, floating imp from the Goron mountains. She spared me a bored glance before talking mainly to Link.

"Well, it's a good thing you found all your friends and picked up that nifty Zora armor. But aren't you forgetting something kind of important? The last fused shadow. Remember what Faron the light spirit said...He said you would need the Fused Shadows to defeat the dark overlord Zant and save the world.." She says, but I interrupt her.

"I'm sorry, what? What's a fused shadow? Who is Zant?" I question the floating girl, who just rolls her eyes. Link clears his throat and starts to explain.

"Well, first off, Midna, meet Rheikah, our new friend. Rheikah, meet Midna, the one who has been helping me all this time." Link introduces. I simply nodded her way causing her to groan boredly.

"Anyway...a fused shadow is just what it sounds like. Pieces of twilight fused together. It's... not good, and Zant is the one behind the twilight covering everything. He lead an attack on the castle that day." I nodded glumly and Midna took that as her cue to continue.

"..So... even if you go back now with all the people you saved...The whole tragedy would just repeat itself. So let's get to it. We need to get to the temple on the Lakebed of Lake Hylia." She states then sticks her tongue out at me before disappearing into Link's shadow.

"I don't think she likes me very much..." I mutter. Link chuckled at that.

"She doesn't like most people very much. She'll learn to love you eventually." He says, stepping over to the pool of water that separated us from our exit.

"How can you be so sure?" I ask quietly, mostly to myself, but he heard it anyway. Link shrugged.

"It didn't take much to make me like you." Then he jumped into the water.

 **Ok so this was supposed to be updated a LONG time ago but then wifi issues, laziness, and lack of writing time kind of messed up my schedule completely.**

 **So thanks to anyone who is still taking the time to read this after such a long wait. I love you!!**

 **See you all next update!!**

 **P.S.: I absolutely love the feedback from you guys! It makes me try to work on this more often.**


	11. 11) Why I Hate Frogs

Link and I left the graveyard of Kakariko Village and went back into town. Our plan was to make sure we had everything we would need (including some things we had to buy from the store in town) in the Lakebed Temple. I went over the checklist in my head one last time before heading into the small shop with Link.

Bow, check. Arrows, check. Zora armor, check. Bombs? According to Link we were going to need them, so now we were headed to a shop in Kakariko to get some.

The building was made completely out of metal, probably because of all the explosives it held inside, to keep any bombs from taking out half the town. We approached the man standing behind the counter of the shop, and I took the opportunity to look around while Link bought bombs. There was signs posted on every wall advising against the use of lanterns or any other kind of fire source.

What dummy would light a fire in a bomb shop?

Once Link had the water bombs, we headed back out of the shop and over to Epona. As usual, Link climbed on first then helped me up as well, then promptly nudged Epona in the direction of the Lake. The ride there was short, or maybe I'm anxious. Who knows what could be down there? Whatever it was, it was up to Link and I to stop it and restore the state of the Lakebed.

When we arrived at the lake, Link lead me back to the spirit spring cave and told me to change into the Zora armor, then went just outside of the cave to change into his own. I looked at the deep purple material in my arms for a moment before putting it down and beginning to strip out of my red tunic. I slipped the purple armor over my head in its place and found that it fit perfectly, hugging my body in just the right way. I also changed into the tight fitting black pants and purple shoes that had webbed feet for efficient swimming.

The armor had a layer of chainmail covering my chest and light ornaments across the waist and sleeves. It came with a light helmet that had a built in mouth cover that would allow me to breathe underwater, and a small dagger that was tucked away in the folds of material. I put the dagger in my boot and fixed my hair under the helmet just as Link was walking in wearing his own set of armor.

His looked like mine, only blue and less decorated. He looked good in it, although, green was definitely more his color. Green made his eyes stand out, and that was my favorite feature of his. I picked up my clothes and folded them neatly for Link to put in his bag, only to realize he had yet to stop staring at me. Did I look too weird in the armor or something? Purple isn't exactly my color..

"Link?" I ask, a bit hesitantly, "Is something wrong? I look weird, don't I?" He shook his head and finally stopped staring at me, coming out of whatever trance he was formally held in.

"No! Of course not! You look great, I just... Nevermind. Ready to go?" He questions with a smile and I nod, handing him my clothes to put in his bag. For a bag that didn't look all that big, it could hold a lot of stuff.

Link and I made our way out of the spirit spring cave and to the water's edge, giving each other a look of determination before diving in the cool water.

We swam to the center of the lake, Link holding me to his chest and using his iron boots to allow us to sink to the bottom faster. It grew colder as we went deeper, but the Zora armor helped a lot to keep us warm. Link used two water bombs to break an air escape way then to break the rocks blocking the way in. Once it was clear, we swam through the small space together and into the Temple.

We swam through a long tunnel, avoiding jellyfish as we did, until we reached a place where we surfaced from the water. It opened into a large room with twin staircases that rose to the same gated door. I climbed out of the water, followed by Link, and pulled down my breathing mask while I looked around. It was amazing. Everything just looked so unreal. I almost couldn't believe that I was actually inside the Zora Temple, well sort of.

Link began searching the room we were in for extra supplies, though I didn't really understand why. You would think that they wouldn't just have random things sitting around, but he found arrows and water bombs despite this.

Link and I head up the stairs and he jumped off the small ledge to pull a lever that opened the gate before joining me again as I walked into the temple.

We made quick work of going through the next room, Link knocking down the hanging stalactites as suggested by Midna (who still doesn't like me much), then climbing up their dropped bottoms and avoiding strange monsters on the way up to the next room. Link opened the door and we both took a look around. We were up high with rushing waters down below us, two other bridges like the one we were on stood on each side of the room ahead of us.

Through there, we worked through many more rooms, killing monsters, opening water ways, and so on. It was a lengthy process, and Link suggested that I stay behind him for most of it, but eventually, we were fighting side by side. Especially when we found ourselves in a huge room with water up to our ankles.

It looked completely empty, save a gated way that was locked, much like the one we came in through. There was no way in or out now, and it was giving me a bad feeling. Something that Midna completely agreed with for once.

Small, fish like monsters came from seemingly nowhere, but we quickly killed them, plunging us into yet another odd silence. When a second pair of monsters appeared, this time obviously falling from the ceiling, I looked up, gasping at the sight.

Link followed my gaze up to see a giant frog creature with the little fish clinging onto its back. It was about that time that the creature decided to join us in the shallow pool where we stood. It jumped down and let out a deep gurgling noise, and Link and I raised our weapons. First it shook off a wave of small fish that tried attacking us in the shallow water. A few of them managed to nip at my ankles, but they were otherwise easily dealt with in just a few swings of a sword and some arrows through the head.

Once all the tadpoles were killed, their twilight infused bodies turning to nothing, the frog jumped straight up, momentarily disappearing from view. Had it given up so soon? And if so, why? I looked over at Link who was standing a few feet away from me to get his opinion, only to be knocked down by him a few seconds later.

"Watch out!" He yells and tackles me out of the way of the falling frog. I flinched at the sudden push, bracing myself as we rolled over into the water, landing in a rather awkward position. I looked over at the place where I was standing just seconds before and found the frog dazed from the high fall, laying with his tongue out. We rolled away just in time.

"Are you okay?" Link asks, and I direct my attention back to the blonde haired boy who was hovering over me. Water dripped from his helmet and onto my face, causing me to flinch a bit, but other than that, I was fine. He seemed to notice me flinch and smiled before wiping away the droplets of water with his thumb and moving away from me.

"I'm fine. Thanks." I say, and sit up. We both stand and walk over to the frog, it still being a bit dazed from the fall. Link then slashed at the frog's tongue quickly before it got back up and the entire process was repeated again. Tadpoles, jump, avoid the fall, slash the tongue.

We repeated this about three times before the frog finally gave one last cry and fell dead, but not before barfing up a blue chest in front of us. I grimaced at the bile coated chest as what remained from the frog's stomach dripped off of it.

Once it was "clean" however, Link wasted no time opening the chest to reveal the treasures inside. He pulled out a gauntlet type thing with a claw on the end. It looked strange, yet useful, seeing as it was built to grab onto things and allow you to pull yourself up. A useful tool. Especially when many things in the Lakebed Temple aren't accessible at the moment.

Including our exit.

 **Yay! New (very late) chapter! So, who ships it? Anyone yet?**

 **I'll get started on a new chapter asap! Promise.**

 **See you guys in the next one!**


	12. 12) Learning to Breathe

With the new clawshot in hand, Link and I went over to a gate that was too high for us to climb up to. He used the clawshot to grap onto a target above the gate, then pulled me close to him as the chain raised us over the gate. We dropped back down on the otherside and continued on through the temple, going to all the places we couldn't before.

It was a bit awkward to continuously be so close to Link, but I tried getting used to it. Surprisingly enough, it didn't take long. By the fifth time we had to use the clawshot to navigate the temple, I had gotten mostly used to the feeling of his arm slinking around my waist and pulling me flush against him while I wrapped my arms around his neck and held on until we stopped moving.

After a lot of swimming, using the clawshot, and blowing up rocks, we eventually made it to a room with a target on the ceiling. Link grabbed it with the clawshot and his weight pulled a lever that opened a small hole in the floor. He dropped the chain slowly and landed on a platform below our current level. He retracted the clawshot and I looked down the hole to where he stood by a large chest.

"It's not that far. Come on down, I'll catch you." Link says. I nod to him and sit on the edge of the hole, dangling my feet off of it. Link stepped to the side and I jumped down. He caught me by the waist on my way down to ease my fall, holding me steady afterwards. For some reason, this closeness wasn't the same as before. Before, it was necessary, and fleeting. Temporary. Now, he was holding me and not letting go.

I looked into his bright blue eyes, wondering what it was about this boy that made him so special. Other than being a chosen hero, of course. I didn't notice how close he had gotten to me until I could feel his breath on my face. His lips were moments away from mine and his hands were firmly holding the small of my back. I quickly looked down and cleared my throat, taking as much of a step back as possible with Link's grip on my waist. He noticed our situation too, and let go, taking a small step back himself.

I then took notice of the large black and red chest sitting behind Link and approached it without looking his way. It seemed pretty important, so I opened it, finding a large key inside. It looked just like the chest it was in and kind of reminded me of why we were here. The twilight. Whatever this key went to, I'm sure it has something to do with that. I hand the key to Link, who promptly puts it in his bag after.

"Where to now?" I ask, looking around the room we were currently standing in. It was only the small round platform we were standing on surrounded by water as far as I could tell. Link pointed down into the water at what looked like a door.

"Through there, then out to the main room of the temple. This key opens the last room we have to go through. We just have to fight our way past whatever's in there, then we can move on." He says. I nod and we both jump into the water.

Over the course of this temple, I'd say that my swimming skills have increased greatly. They had to, or else I would have drowned by now. Not that I was bad before, only that I only swam when I had to. I still wasn't very fast though.

Just as Link said, we went through the door then back through the temple to the last locked door. He took out the key and unlocked it, opening the door to reveal a small room with a hole in the center. We looked at each other for a moment before lifting up our swimming masks and jumping down, one at a time.

When we hit water again, it was like being dropped in the ocean. The pool was a lot deeper than I thought it would be, and a lot colder. So much so, I had to hold on to Link while he sank us to the bottom with his iron boots, resisting the urge to shiver the whole way.

Once we hit bottom, I had begun to adjust to the cold while we stared at the monster in front of us. It was only an odd, tube-like, clear tentacle with a single eye moving through it, but soon grew into something bigger. One tentacle turned into eight and a large gaping mouth was revealed from beneath the sand. The eye was occationally going down and out a different tentacle, never once letting us out of its sight. While avoiding the whipping of the other tentacles, Link tried grabbing the eye with his clawshot (after Midna gave a little piece of advice that included a minor insult towards me). It took a couple of tries, what with it constantly moving, but he got it then attacked it repeatedly with his sword.

I almost felt bad for just standing there, but unfortunately, arrows don't fly well through water. Even Link's sword was slowed a bit. That didn't stop him though.

The eye bounced back towards the mouth and was swallowed before moving back through the tentacles. Bomb fish swam out of the creature's mouth and circled the area, but Link ignored them. He grabbed the eye with his clawshot again and hit it with his sword. This time, when the eye went back to the creature, the whole ground rumbled and it disappeared under the sand.

But if I learned one thing from fighting beside Link, it's that this could only be a bad thing.

Sure enough, it came back from under the sand and kept coming, and coming, and coming, until the entirety of the massive fish was revealed. It was beyond huge. Link and I looked at each other for a moment before coming to the mutual agreement to go after it. We began swimming up, Link going one way and me going the other. He was the first to attack the fish, using his clawshot to grab onto its back and slash at another eye that was on top of its back.

The creature shook him off and continued to swim around, knocking into the occational stone pillar that circled the area. As it came back around, I swam after it and grabbed onto its back, pulling the small dagger from my boot that came with the zora armor. I stabbed at the eye as much as I could in a short time until it shook me off and I floated away from it. I swam up to stand on one of the nearby pillars in the room to get a better look at the fish.

As the fish came back around, its tail hit the pillar I was standing on and the entire structure crumbled below me. I fell a bit, but other than that I was fine as I slowly floated downward. My eyes caught sight of Link shortly after, who had been watching me when I fell. The monster of a fish swimming around me pulled my attention away from Link for only a moment as it passed behind me. I watched it swim past my right side before looking back at Link who was quickly swimming my way. Before I could question why, the large tail of the fish had hit the back of my head, pushing me down and my helmet off my head.

I released a short burst of bubbles after the impact, putting my hands over my mouth to prevent breathing in water. _Don't panic. Don't panic. Find your helmet._ I looked down and saw the air supplying helmet sinking to the bottom. I could try to go after it, but my lungs were already burning from the sudden lack of air. There's no way I would be able to get to it in time if I exert myself by swimming down to it.

I looked up and saw Link still swimming towards me, quickly making his way to be right in front of me. He started down to grab my helmet, but I let out another small stream of bubbles and he abandoned his previous actions. Link looked at me, deep in thought as I struggled to hold my breath. I watched him take a deep breath under his mask before I squeezed my eyes shut in a last effort to hold on. He grabbed my wrists and pulled my hands away from my mouth, the last of the air I was holding onto escaping as my lungs eagerly awaited more. I opened my eyes again to tell him I was done, that I couldn't hold on any longer, but didn't get the chance.

When I opened my eyes, Link had already grabbed my face and forced his mouth on mine. I gasped and, surprisingly enough, found air. The moment was short lived though, because as soon as I had a breath of air, Link pulled away and I let it go. He pulled up his mask and took a breath before pulling it back down and repeating the process. He continued to give me his kisses of air until he was sure I was fine then took a deep breath, took off his helmet and gave it to me, then swam down to retrieve my own. I greedily breathed with his helmet while he did so.

He didn't risk going all the way down, and just went far enough he could grab it with the clawshot then came back up with it. When he got back, we traded and continued on with our mission with only a nod of thanks shared between us.

Link was the one to finish it off, stabbing at the eye some more before the creature crashed into a wall, cracking it upon impact. The crack in the wall began draining the water from the room and we floated down as the water level dropped, leaving us standing there with the monstrous fish.

I looked at Link once the water drained and pulled down the breathing mask of my helmet. He looked at me too, and seemed to already have a preconceived idea of what I had to say as he pulled down his mask.

"I'm sorry about that. I didn't know what else to do and I panicked. I'm so—" Link started but I cut him off.

"Thank you." I smiled at him and he gazed at me, slightly confused. "You saved my life."

"You're not mad?" He asks. I shake my head and approach the blonde hero, grinning the whole way. I had to stand on my toes to reach where I wanted, but it was worth it to kiss him on the cheek and see his face turn pink.

"Of course not" I say, and step away from him. I turn to the monster fish and watch it finally die. Like all other monsters, when it died, it turned to smoke and dust, though with this one, the dark parts of it fused together into a solid piece of twilight. I'm guessing this is that fused shadow that Link and Midna were talking about.

It sort of looked like a piece of Midna's helmet, but it was actually something you could clearly see. Unlike the imp, who was mostly translucent. The fused shadow slowly floated down to us and I subconsciously reached out to touch it. It slowed down as it got closer to my hands before hanging in the air just above them. A faint ringing sounded and Midna appeared out of Link's shadow.

"There it is! The last fused shadow... I'll take that, thanks!" She says as a large orange hand shapes from her hair and grabs the fused shadow from me. Link let out a sigh from beside me.

"Does that mean I'm finally done riding you around on my back and in my shadow?" He asks with a raised eyebrow and I chuckle at the thought of Midna getting an eternal piggy back ride. He nudged me with his arm, smiling a playful warning at me. Midna rolled her eyes at us before bringing the attention back to herself.

"Now, don't resent me for all I've put you through. I NEED this thing! Besides, we have to do something about Zant, the one who thinks he is the king of shadows. His power is a false one. I'll prove it using these." Midna put the fused shadow away and looked between the two of us. Considering I still don't think she likes me much, this is the longest she's gone without excluding, ignoring, or even rolling her eyes at me directly.

A nice break, yes, but it gave me a strange comfort when she was rude to me. It was familiar, unlike the constant politeness of everyone I seem to meet on this trip.

"So..." She trailed off, looking directly at us now, "I've done everything I needed to. I'm sorry for dragging you all over the place with me." Midna floated over to a small island out of the ankle deep water and opened what I assume to be a portal. It was an off blue and black swirled circle on the ground. She seemed to look slightly pleased with my confusion and astonishment, and grinned at us.

"So...shall we go?" She asks. I didn't move for a solid thirty seconds after that until Link gently grabbed my hand from beside me. I looked over at the blue eyed hero to see him smiling at me. He lightly squeezed my hand and nodded towards Midna's portal.

"Come on, lets get out of here." Link says and leads me over to the swirling circle. We stood in the middle of it and seconds later, the world around us had gone dark, but only for the blink of an eye. When light returned to the space around us, we were somewhere different. Back at the spirit spring to be exact.

The spring was just as we had left it, bright and shining. Maybe even more so now that the fused shadow had been removed from this place. Link and I turned to leave, only to be met with a masked figure. He wore a long cloak with large sleeves that covered most to all of his body, and a silver mask with a long tongue covering his mouth. Its blank eyes stared at us for a moment before the spirit Lanayru came bursting out of the spring behind us.

A large ball of light lit up the cave from the creature's jaws as the stranger continued to stare. He then let out a blast of twilight, making a dark flash that traveled fast, much like the twilight that once covered Castle Town. It knocked me back onto the ground and, before I could react, everything went dark as I slipped into unconsciousness.

 **\--** **Good stopping point, no? Too bad. See ya in the next one!**


	13. 13) The Princess and the Dog

When I woke up again, the strange guy was still there with a glowing red ball aimed at Midna. I tried to stand, but found myself with four paws and a tail rather than the limbs I was used to. As soon as I was on my feet, Link was already attacking the stranger, resulting in him being thrown back by whatever that red ball was. I looked back at Link's unconscious form, seeing an odd-looking twilight piece sticking out of his head. It slowly sunk into his skull, leaving no trace of having been there to begin with.

The strange man had Midna in a magic hold, restraining her and bringing my attention back to him. I growled at him, making sure I stood in front of Link to prevent any further attacks, though I wasn't sure how a fight would go down considering my circumstances.

"You. You must be this Rheikah my master speaks of. I figured I'd get a little less resistance from someone so...infamous. Born of darkness for my master's use, and yet...you defend this pathetic human. A darkness lives in you, light dweller, and I'll make sure you don't forget that." With a snap of his fingers, a ball of twilight formed in front of him. I stood my ground out of fear he might hit Link again if I didn't, and braced for impact.

I ran at the strange man as he let out a small laugh and sent the twilight flying forwards. Then everything was dark.

The next time I woke up, we were somewhere else entirely. I have no idea how we got there, only that I was woken up by Link nudging me with his nose. I stood up and looked around, noticing two things: One, that we were both still wolves, despite being out of the twilight; and two, Midna was on Link's back... and she didn't look good.

"We have to go. To the castle—to the princess. Lanayru said she could help us, but we have to hurry. I'm not sure how much longer Midna has left." Link says. I nodded to him before looking around again. We were just North of the castle, not far from the nearest gate, though I didn't know what he planned to do once we got there. They don't exactly let wolves in to visit the princess. Not that I would know either way.

Link and I took off towards the castle, running as fast as we could. We ended up coming in the East gate, people screaming and guards holding spears at us whenever they spotted us. There was no way we were getting in through the main doors, but maybe we could go through the bar. I nudged Link's shoulder and told him to follow me down a side street away from the big crowds.

We made it down to the street Telma's bar was on and I took a moment to take a breath while Link poked his nose in through the door. As soon as they saw him, he was kicked out and the door was slammed in our faces.

"Now what?" He asks, just as a small window opened to the side of the bar.

"You there." We look over to see a white, fat cat standing in the small window. "You're Link, correct?"

I step forward to get a better look at the cat as it jumps down from the opening. I tilt my head to the side, slightly weirded out that I could understand the furry creature.

"Louise?" I ask, "It's me, Rheikah. And Link."

The white cat stepped forward and sniffed at us, sitting back once he was satisfied.

"Mmm yes, I thought so. I could just tell, you know." Louise turned to Link and introduced himself, but still gazed at us in confusion.

"In any case," he started, "I must tell you, I'm a bit puzzled as to why you look like that. Really dear, you can't blame the humans for tossing you out, the way you look."

"Please, we just need to get into the bar to use the castle passage. Our friend needs help." I say, not liking the way Midna's skin grew paler by the minute. It was then Louise noticed her laying on Link's back, and looked curiously at all of us.

"Oh...Another patient? You certainly are a curious sort..." Louise stated. This time it was Midna who tried pleading with him; barely able to get the word please past her lips along with a weak "Princess Zelda".

Louise turned from us and headed back to the window he came from. "This way!" he says.

"Here, get in through the window. The attic is connected to the castle waterway. Its and old waterway, though...so it could be a rough trip. Well...I suppose all that's left to do is make sure the humans don't notice you." Louise says and moves over by the door. I nod once in thanks to the white cat and Link and I work on getting inside.

He pushed a nearby crate a little closer to the stack of crates by the window, and we both jumped on then over and through the window with Link going first. Inside the bar, we stood on a wide ledge as Link assessed the challenge in front of him. The only way across to the opening was by the rope I had attatched to the different ledges. We would have to walk across them all without falling or getting caught.

I just hope I can still do it with four legs instead of two.

I gave Link a silent nod before geting started on the first rope. I went ahead of him this time, carefully trying to keep my balance. Once I was about halfway down the rope, Link started after me. I was grateful when we reached the first ledge unharmed and without alerting anyone to our presence. We continued on throughout the bar, hearing bits and pieces of everyone's conversations. A Goron that wanted to return home, Telma wondering if Link and I were doing alright (along with a little suggestive comment that didn't fail to make me walk faster over the ledge), and at the exclusive table of Telma's group of friends, a comment about Link. It started out positive, but ultimately ended in Link not knowing fear because he doesn't know the city.

I suppressed my need to scoff at the accusation. I angrily sat by the opening that lead out of the bar while I waited for Link to finish crossing the rope. Once he got to the final ledge he looked questioningly at me. I stood again and walked out of the bar passage. Mid-tunnel Link stopped me and asked what was going on. I sighed and glanced back at where we could still see the bar's lights before answering.

"What that guy said at the table in Telma's bar...about you not knowing fear. It's not fair. You are twice the fighter they could ever hope to be. With all the monsters you fight daily, you've looked fear in the face and beat it every day since all this began. It isn't fair for them to sit there and do nothing while you singlehandedly save all of Hyrule then complain about—" Link interrupted my small rant.

"Rheikah, relax, I don't care what they think. Their opinion doesn't matter to me... yours does. Thanks, but I would be more upset if you were the one saying those things." Link says, a small smile on his lips. I smiled back with a nod, walking on down the tunnel.

"I still think it isn't right..."

We continued down the passage until it opened up into a room filled with gold coins and a strange smell that sent chills down my spine. I sniffed at it to get an idea of what it was, only for my vision to flash and reveal a...something in the corner of the room. Link and I jumped down into the room and he went to go deal with the floating whatever while I looked around. Everything was golden and shiny, including the person sitting in a throne-like chair.

It took me a moment of looking, but eventually I figured out the man I was looking at was Jovani, the curly haired man who lived in the house with all the cats. This is where he disappeared to. He turned to gold. Despite the...tragic...mishap that must have happened to cause this, a small part of me couldn't help but wonder how much a solid gold Jovani would be worth. My thoughts of selling my greedy neighbor were interrupted however by Link approaching me from behind.

He stood by me and looked over at the golden man for a moment, about to ask me something when Jovani started to speak.

"Oh...Th-thanks for beating the ghost. Can I call you...doggie? I'm Jovani. I...became consumed by greed long ago, and sold my soul to a dark creature that did this to me...I can't move...I can't go see my girlfriend...My pet cat Gangle is frozen on my head...I don't think I could be more miserable...I have to ask you a favor, doggie...Can you find and defeat the 20 ghosts that lurk in the dark for me? I think if you can free the pieces of my soul from the ghosts that hold them, I'll be free...Oh, but it's raining out now, so I don't think you can go outside directly. I'll open the for to the underground waterway for you..." The chest on the floor behind us opened up and revealed yet another tunnel. Maybe I could sell the cat seperately...

"Once the rain stops, you can come back in here by digging around the front wall where the cats gather. Just watch out for that red haired street rat that hangs around here; sometimes she carries weapons...understand doggie?" Link gave me a strange look after he said that, but I ignored them both and headed for the tunnel.

Link came down the tunnel shortly after I did and we were both carried down a river of rushing waters to another area. We climbed out of the water and onto the stone walkway, looking around for a way out. It didn't take long before I found a lever hanging in front of a water gate. I jumped up and grabbed the lever, my weight pulling it down and opening the way. I let go of the lever and fell in the water, being rushed down to yet another pool with Link right behind me.

This next room had two flights of stairs that reminded me of the castle entrance from town. We must be getting close. Link and I climbed out of the water again and began climbing the steps, finding the exit blocked by two skulltulas and their web. Together we made quick work of them then burned the web to get by.

We quickly moved through the next two large areas as Midna's breathing became even more labored, burning spiderwebs and fighting off a few enemies. Link sniffed out a spot on the floor and began digging, disappearing under the dirt soon after. I followed him through the dig spot, coming out in a different room entirely.

This room lead into a large spiral staircase heading straight up and I immediately knew we'd made it to the castle. Now, we just had to find a way to the princess's room.

The trip up the staircase was a long and tense one, especially considering that big portions of it had broken off, leaving only ropes tied between the pieces of stairs as a way up. Eventually though, we reached the top and headed through a door to the outside of the castle wall. Rain and hard wind pelted us from the moment we stepped outside. We ran along the top of the castle wall, jumping over breaks and avoiding twilight infused birds, even running across a bridge that was only available when the wind blew until we reached the princess's tower.

Link lead the way, going into the tower opening and up a few stairs until he pushed through the chamber doors as I trailed behind him. A feeling of dread hit me as we went into the room. I never thought that one day I would have to actually face the princess. The one who rules my "home." The one whose father turned away when my family needed help. And just to make it better, I would be meeting her as an overgrown wet dog.

When we didn't immediately see her in the room, Link tensed. Midna had gotten so weak by this point, she fell off of his back and onto the floor. She looked blue and not like herself at all. A hand moved to touch her cheek and we all looked up to find the princess.

"Please...Please tell me...How do we break...the curse on these two? These...are the ones...You need them to save your world! That's why...Princess...Please...You must help them..." Midna barely croaks out and the princess looks up at Link, then at me. She raised her hand to him and a mark on her hand pulsed with light, glowing when she held it over his head, doing the same to me after.

"What binds them is a different magic than what transformed them when they first passed the curtain of twilight. It's an evil power. Our world is one of balance...Just as there is light to drive away darkness, so, too, is there benevolence to banish evil. Head for the sacred grove that lies deep within the lands guarded by the spirit Faron. There you will find the blade of evil's bane that was created by the wisdom of the ancient sages...the Master Sword. The Master Sword is a sacred blade that evil can never touch. Evil cloaks you like a dark veil...and that blade is the only thing that can cleave it. Link...hero sent by the goddesses...Like you, I have been granted special powers by the goddesses..." Zelda held up her hand to show the strange mark I now recognized as a triforce.

"Fine...Link...You and...You and Rheikah can get to the woods...on your own, right? Princess...I have one last request...Can you tell them...where to find the Mirror of Twilight?" Midna says, out of breath and slowly dying. Something tells me she knows she doesn't have much longer, and even though we didn't exactly get along, it made me sad. At the mention of a Mirror of Twilight, Zelda tensed.

"Midna...I believe I understand now just who and what you are... Despite your mortal injuries, you act in our stead...These dark times are the result of our deeds, yet it's you who have reaped the penalty. Accept this now, Midna. I pass it to you..." Zelda began to glow as light flowed through her and into Midna. I didn't quite understand what was happening until it was too late.

"No! Link! Rheikah! STOP HER!" Midna yelled as she was lifted into the air by the strange force. As the life flowed back into Midna...Zelda disappeared. A strange feeling coursed through me. I had only met the princess once, then soon after, she sacrificed herself to save the annoying imp that only started using my name recently.

Maybe she wasn't as bad as I made her out to be...

"What now?" Link asks, as dazed as I was after seeing the princess disappear. Midna stood tall, staring at the place Zelda once sat.

"We go back, Link! Back to Faron Woods!" She says before climbing onto his back. We all start out of the tower chamber, but I stop when Midna does.

"Zelda...I've taken all that you had to give...though I did not want it." She says before motioning for Link to go on. We exited the chamber and Midna opened a portal for us to warp to Faron Woods.


End file.
